A leading national security adviser for President Donald Trump stirred controversy Tuesday by suggesting a conspiracy theory involving a journalist accidentally added to a Signal group chat. The chat, reportedly used by senior officials to discuss military operations, inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
President Trump earlier defended adviser Mike Waltz amid escalating criticism over the incident, calling him a “very good man” who did not need to apologize. Trump conceded that using Signal to discuss military plans was a mistake but downplayed the seriousness, maintaining the information was not classified. Trump predicted Waltz would avoid such apps in the future.
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Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely criticized for their role in the controversy. Waltz openly took responsibility, admitting during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, “I take full responsibility. I built the — I built the group. My job is to make sure everything’s coordinated.”
Despite accepting blame, Waltz speculated, without evidence, that Goldberg intentionally inserted himself into the group chat to damage President Trump’s reputation. “You know, Laura, I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” Waltz stated, proceeding to suggest exactly that, “but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys, and gone to Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States.
And he’s the one that somehow gets on someone’s contact and then gets sucked into this group.” Ingraham pressed Waltz about Goldberg’s inclusion, noting, “The president expressed complete confidence in you today and his entire Cabinet. But how did a Trump-hating editor of The Atlantic end up on your Signal chat?”
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Waltz further distanced himself from Goldberg, claiming no prior personal interactions. “No idea,” Waltz insisted. “Wouldn’t know him if I bumped into him, if I saw him in a police lineup. I do now. I knew him by reputation about lying, for lying about the president over and over and over again. I can tell you for certain — certainly wasn’t reaching out and talking to him at all. Why would I?”
Goldberg maintains he has met Waltz before, contradicting Waltz’s claim, further complicating an already tense public debate surrounding the national security breach.
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