President Donald Trump was reportedly upset at National Security Adviser Mike Waltz for accidentally adding a journalist to a group chat between top national security officials about a military operation – but he was also allegedly upset that Waltz had the journalists’ phone number saved to begin with.
In public, the president defended his national security adviser for the blunder, calling him a “good man” who “learned his lesson” and would not face termination for the mistake.
Trump pushed the blame on a staffer, telling NBC News, “It was one of [Waltz’s] people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”
But behind closed doors, the president was “p***** that Waltz could be so stupid” to add Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the group chat, one person told Politico.
Trump was allegedly angry that Waltz had Goldberg’s number saved to begin with, a person familiar with the situation told Politico.
In the past, Trump has called Goldberg a “sleazebag” and criticized The Atlantic’s reporting.
Two people familiar with the matter shared a similar conclusion with
But for now, Waltz’s position in the administration appears to be secure.
Waltz, a former congressman, is a close Trump ally, and despite his mistake, the president has publicly stood beside him. He told reporters on Tuesday he didn’t think the national security adviser needed to apologize and was “doing his best.”
Administration officials have sought to downplay the security breach, disputing The Atlantic’s claim that officials shared “war plans” in Signal, the encrypted but commercially available app.
On Wednesday, Trump asserted that no details of the attack were in the messages – though The Atlantic published more messages revealing the date and time of the attacks as well as the weapons used. He touted that Goldberg’s inclusion in the messages did not have an impact on the successful attacks either.
The president also theorized that the editor-in-chief perhaps “found a way” into the group chat – further pushing blame away from his national security adviser.
“A thing like that, maybe Goldberg found a way,” Trump said. “Maybe there’s a staffer, maybe there’s a very innocent staffer, but we’ll get, I think we’ll get to the bottom of it very quickly, and it’s really not a big deal.”
Waltz took full responsibility for the mishap, telling Fox News on Tuesday evening that a staffer did not add The Atlantic editor.
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