Trump defends national security chief Waltz after Signal texts about Houthi strike sent to reporter

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2025 as, seated from L to R, Vice Presient JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was not upset with national security advisor Michael Waltz after he reportedly added a journalist to a text thread in which top officials discussed pending military strikes.

“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC News in a phone call when asked if he still had confidence in his top national security aide.

Asked how Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, came to be included in a text thread that included Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump blamed a lower-level staffer.

“It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,” the president said.

Goldberg revealed in a bombshell article Monday that his number on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, had been added to a chat thread called the “Houthi PC small group” in mid-March.

The thread showed participants discussing and debating plans related to U.S. bombing attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen, which were ultimately carried out on March 15.

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