White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt threw cold water on the hysteria over alleged security breaches in the administration.
Leavitt addressed the alarms set off after National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added a journalist to a military group chat, as new concerns over security were raised because U.S. Special Envoy Steven Witkoff was part of the Signal chat group while he was in Moscow. Critics called out Witkoff over his remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin and his addition to the sensitive military group chat while he was still in Moscow, set off another round of pearl-clutching on the left.
Plans for an airstrike on the Houthis in Yemen were reportedly discussed in the chat that included Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others.
That particular Signal chat, as per Atlantic’s @JeffreyGoldberg , was set up at 16:28 on March 13. Witkoff was wrapping up his Moscow visit then and his plane departed a few hours later. Of course, we don’t know what other USG Signal and WhatsApp groups were running in parallel. https://t.co/58vxnY5VOl
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 25, 2025
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg published a story Monday, claiming he was added to the group messages that included administration officials and prompting calls for Walz to be fired and an investigation into whether Russians were able to access the texts.
“Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” Leavitt wrote on X Tuesday morning in a post already seen over 2.3 million times.
“Here are the facts about his latest story,” the press secretary added, noting three points, including that “war plans” and classified material were not part of the group messages.
Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin. Here are the facts about his latest story:
1. No “war plans” were discussed.
2. No classified material was sent to the thread.
3. The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 25, 2025
“As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread,” Leavitt added. “Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump.”
The president is standing by Waltz, telling NBC News in an interview, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.”
“It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,” he said when asked how Goldberg was added.
Despite the journalist’s attempt to make publicize and sensationalize the story for his own benefit, Trump said Goldberg’s addition to the group had “no impact at all” on the planned military operation and it was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
Social media reactions varied, with the predictable backlash at the Trump administration over Witkoff and Waltz while others speculated whether it was all a setup.
Steve Witkoff is a great guy doing an incredible job. The people sniping at him are mad that he is succeeding where they failed for 40 years.
Turns out a lot of diplomacy boils down to a simple skill: don’t be an idiot.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 24, 2025
This is classic Trump-style stuff. They wanted the messages out there so they did it this way. No one texts that way in private group chats. This is actually great strategy. https://t.co/yCWgeE1w9b
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) March 25, 2025
Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic should have simply exited the chat or notified the group that he was incorrectly included.
He should have done the right thing and not tried to create a salacious clickbait story about it.
— Cryptid Politics 🇺🇸🐊 (@CryptidPolitics) March 25, 2025
A simple “Hey folks, I on this chat too???” from Goldberg would have resolved the issue correctly. Well-bred/trained/intentioned people don’t eavesdrop if they can avoid it.
— Bob Natale (@BobN_0) March 25, 2025
Nope. He did exactly what he should’ve done under the circumstances – i.e. reported on the concerning lack of diligence in top secret communication that could, if unchecked, result in state secrets falling into the hands of enemies and loss of thousands of American lives.
— Silencio (@hay_banda) March 25, 2025
I didn’t see any “plans” in the chat, just a team discussing how Europe is a bunch of freeloaders 🤣
— Ryan Jacobsen (@Dndbreakfast) March 25, 2025
