President Donald Trump on Tuesday reduced the use of the chaplain of the signal group reported among high officials to discuss US attacks on Houthi in Yemen – revealed when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg from Atlantic, “accidentally” was added to the chat.
Trump claims there is “there is no secret information as I understand,” when he was seasoned with questions about the accident reported during the meeting with his ambassador in the White House. Trump came to defend the national security advisor Michael Waltz and herapeed military operations as success.
“They use applications, if you want to call it an application, which is used by many people. Many people are used by the government, many people are used in the media,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump spoke next to the Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles when he met the US Ambassador in the White House cabinet room in Washington, March 25, 2025.
Mandel and/AFP
Goldberg, Chief Editor of Atlantic, wrote in a work published on Monday that he was added to group chat in the commercial signal application where officials, including the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Waltz, were discussing attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen. Goldberg said he seemed to be added to the chat by Waltz.
The story in Atlantic only describes the operational part of the message chain, but does not divulge specifically.
When asked if there was something to be fired as a result of a storm, Trump replied: “We have seen it enough. To be honest, honestly … it’s just something that can happen. That can happen.”
Trump attacked Atlantic and Goldberg and doubled the success of air strikes.
“Well, I mean, look, we see everything and, you know, they have made a big problem because we have two perfect months,” Trump said.
Waltz said he had technical experts – not FBI – looking into this matter and told Trump, “We will take care of everything as safe as possible. No one in your national security team will put anyone in danger.”
President Donald Trump met with the US Ambassador in the White House cabinet room in Washington, March 25, 2025.
Mandel and/AFP
Atlantic pushed back to Trump’s claim.
“Efforts to underestimate and discredit the Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting followed a clear guidebook by the elected officials and other ruling people who are hostile to journalists and the first amendments to all Americans,” the magazine said in a statement on Tuesday night. “Our journalists continue with no fear and independently report the truth for the public interest.
“Jeffrey Goldberg is a recipient of information about and discussion of military planning among leading national security leaders in the country when he was accidentally added to their non-security message group,” he added. “This is amazing – and confirmed yesterday by the National Security Council.”
Democrats in Capitol Hill were heard against the administration of the incident throughout Tuesday.
Representative of Seth Moulton, D-Mass., A sea veteran, said during the press conference that the national security chat signal group violated “endangering American lives.”
Moulton said Trump administrative officials lied about the incident, which “was not in the leadership manual for our armed services.”
“Oh, this information is not classified? Without knowing the complete details, we know that the time of the attack for this operation is in the message. Let’s explain: that’s a secret information. That’s all you need to know,” he added.
Congress members acknowledge that “There is no reason here but there is also no accountability, and it is very clear that the secretary hegseth, with how he handles this, has no honor, has no sense of task and has absolutely no accountability for his own actions.”
House leader House Hakeem Jeffries called for Hegseth to be fired because of group chat.
“Pete Hegseth is the Secretary of Defense who is at least eligible in American history,” he said in a statement. “His behavior surprised conscience, risking American lives and possibly violating the law.”
Previously Tuesday, Democrats Panggang Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe for the use of signals and information discussed about the chat.
Intelligence officials, who testify as part of the previously scheduled trial before the selected selected committee on intelligence, also confirmed that there was no secret information included in the message chain.
National Intelligence Director, Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director, John Ratcliffe testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee of the session regarding “World Threats,” at Capitol Hill in Washington, March 25, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP Via Getty Images
Facing questions from the Democratic senate about why information about sequence or time of attack, as reported by Atlantic, will not be considered classified, Ratcliffe said the Minister of Defense Hegseth had the authority to determine what was classified or not. Gabbard postponed such questions to the Department of Defense.
Ratcliffe also said he believed that Waltz’s national security advisor intended to chat to become “a mechanism for coordinating between senior level officials, but not a substitute for using high -sided communication or secret for anything that will be classified.”
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, deputy chairman of the panel, slammed the incident as “careless” and said others would be fired because of the same behavior. Warner also pressed officials to share messages with parliamentary members after they said they did not contain confidential information.
“If there is no secret material, share it with the committee. You cannot have both,” he said.
The Republican Party in the panel did not ask many questions about this problem during the trial, which had been determined to focus on threats throughout the world. Although Senator Todd Young, a Republican Indiana, said he would ask questions about the signal incident in a closed session.
Ranking member, Senator Mark Warner spoke during the session of the Senate Intelligence Committee on “World Threats,” at Capitol Hill in Washington, March 25, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP Via Getty Images
Officials with the White House National Security Council said they “were reviewing” how Goldberg could be mistakenly added to the group of 18 members who included several prominent military officials in the country.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the review on Tuesday, but said that “there was no ‘war plan’ discussed.” He added that no secret material was sent to the signal group chat.
“The White House Advisor Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump’s high -ranking officials to communicate arbitrarily and as efficiently as possible,” he said.
“At this time, the reported utas message appeared to be authentic, and we reviewed how accidentally added numbers to the chain,” NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement, which was sent to ABC News after the first time was issued by Atlantic.
National security advisor Mike Waltz spoke during a meeting with President Donald Trump and the US Ambassador in the White House cabinet room in Washington, March 25, 2025.
Win the McNamee/Getty image
The scope of the review, including whether to try to determine why a high -level discussion about military planning occurs outside the official channel, not immediately clear from Hughes’s statement.
Trump is not committed to changing the procedure or fully cutting the use of signals in administration as a result of failure.
“I don’t think it’s something we look forward to to use again. We may be forced to use it. You might be in a situation where you need speed as an opponent of dirty safety, and you may be forced to use it, but, in general, I don’t think we might not use it very much,” he said.
Apart from his efforts to underestimate the incident, President Trump repeatedly indicated that he did not like this communication tool, saying he thought his best was in the situation space for this conversation.
“Sometimes someone can discuss those things. That’s one of the prices you pay when you don’t sit in a situation room without a telephone, which is always the best, frankly,” Trump said.
“Look, if it’s up to me, everyone will sit in a room together,” Trump said later. “The room will have solid tin walls and heavens and lead floors. But, you know, life doesn’t always let you do that.”
ABC News’ Fritz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Farrowz Fritz Fritz Fritz Farrowz Isabella Murray, Ivan Pereira and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.