Waltz takes "full responsibility" for Signal group chat scandal
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Mike Waltz speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 7. Photo: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
National security adviser Mike Waltz said Tuesday he takes "full responsibility" for the scandal involving the use by senior officials of an unclassified commercial chat app to discuss plans to strike Yemen.
The big picture: President Trump made clear he does not plan to fire Waltz for establishing the Signal group and inadvertently adding Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to it, telling Newsmax on Tuesday night he believed a "lower level" employee who works for his national security adviser had added the journalist's number.
- Administration officials have said no classified information was shared during the conversation.
Driving the news: "A staffer wasn't responsible," Waltz said in an interview with Laura Ingraham on FOX News' "The Ingraham Angle."
- "I take full responsibility. I built the group ... my job is to make sure everything's coordinated."
- "We made a mistake," Waltz said. "And lessons learned. ... We're not using Signal app anymore."
Zoom in: Asked how Goldberg's number was added to the chat, Waltz said: "Have you ever had somebody's contact that shows their name ... and then you have somebody else's number there?"
- He added: "So, of course, I didn't see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical mean is something we're trying to figure out."
- Waltz said he had spoken with business mogul Elon Musk, senior adviser to the president, on the "embarrassing" incident. "We've got the best technical minds looking at how this happened," he added.
Catch up quick: The group chat included more than a dozen top Trump administration officials, one of whom is believed to be Vice President JD Vance.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted "operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing," Goldberg said.
Zoom out: During his interview, Waltz reiterated the administration's stance that there was no classified information in the exchange.
- Both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and press secretary Karoline Leavitt have also downplayed the incident and denied "war plans" were discussed — a claim that seems to deny aspects of Goldberg's report, which the journalist stands by.
Go deeper: Trump backs national security adviser after Houthi group chat scandal
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from President Trump and further remarks by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
