President Donald Trump is standing by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, despite a major security lapse that exposed sensitive war plans targeting Houthi militants in Yemen.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump called the incident “the only glitch in two months,” adding, “Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.” Trump also praised the strikes on Houthi targets as “very successful.”
The controversy began when Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat discussing classified military operations. The chat contained detailed plans for airstrikes that were executed days later—including target locations in and around Sana’a, the specific weapon systems to be used and the timing of the coordinated attacks.
Trump said Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact at all” on the military operation.
When asked what he was told about how Goldberg came to be added to the Signal chat, Trump said, “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”
The U.S. government prohibits the use of Signal for transmitting classified information.
In an article titled “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans,” Goldberg wrote:
On Tuesday, March 11, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz. Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text-messaging services are capable of delivering. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. I did not assume, however, that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz. I have met him in the past, and though I didn’t find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with journalists—and Trump’s periodic fixation on me specifically. It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me. It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.
I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.
Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.”
A message to the group, from “Michael Waltz,” read as follows: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”
“Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend,” the message continued. “Thx.”
Goldberg, who did not publish the sensitive material, later said the exchange “deeply unsettled” him. Messages reportedly showed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announcing that strikes would begin at 1:45 p.m. ET on March 15. The operation commenced shortly thereafter.
While the world learned around 2 p.m. that afternoon that the United States was bombing terrorist targets in Yemen, Hegseth told his inner circle—inadvertently including Goldberg—about the impending strike two hours earlier.
The next day, Reuters confirmed the U.S. launched a large-scale offensive against Houthi militants in retaliation for attacks on Red Sea shipping. At least 31 people were killed.
Trump followed up with a direct warning to Iran, which provides the group with military, financial and political support:
“America will hold you fully accountable—and we won’t be nice about it!”
In interviews last week, Waltz blamed Iran for backing the Houthis, saying they were actively trying to undermine U.S. naval operations and global trade.
According to Waltz, 70% of maritime traffic is now rerouting around South Africa to avoid Houthi-controlled waters, spiking shipping costs and snarling supply chains.
On March 16, Houthi forces claimed they attacked the USS Harry S. Truman using missiles and drones. The U.S. reported no damage. The Houthis also alleged they disrupted a planned U.S. offensive—a dubious claim that remains unverified.
While the Trump administration’s operation appears successful, national security leaders are under fire for permitting the sharing of operational details on a commercial app. Some critics even argue that this could be in violation of the Espionage Act.
Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) called the incident “a gross failure of operational security.” The National Security Council confirmed the messages were real and admitted Goldberg’s inclusion in the chat was an error.
Nevertheless, Walz stated that senior Houthi leaders have perished in the ongoing strikes.
Despite Trump’s public support, internal debates have emerged over Waltz’s future in the White House. While some staff defend him, others privately call his actions “reckless.”
Waltz, a former Green Beret and member of Congress, has been a strong voice on China and defense policy. He became national security advisor in early 2025 and is now at the center of one of the administration’s biggest security stumbles.
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While including the Atlantic gossip sheet in the call may not have been a wise choice, the claim that this was a gross breach of security is kind of slim. This sort of classified action usually carries the notation “declassify on beginning of operation”. Hard to see a great OPSEC violation here. I note that none of the democrat whiners ever had any comment to say about Hillary Clinton’s use of her Rube Goldberg communication lash-up, even though it put many Americans (and foreign assets) in danger. But, rule number one for democrats is “the rules is for Youse guys, not us”.
Also need to check and see if Waltz was the actual invitor, or if someone else using his name did this.
Whew, they missed spotting Putin, Iran Quds leader and Xi also lisrening in! That was close.