Jeffrey Goldberg has vigorously rebutted Mike Waltz’s charges. He argues that his contact does not appear in private Signal group chat among high-level Trump administration officials. The outrage spread primarily after news leaked about a private group chat. This was in reference to a planned US strike against Houthi targets in Yemen. For one, Goldberg continues, “Waltz’s excuse for how his contact ended up in the group chat makes no sense.”
Goldberg, an independent journalist, was invited to join a group text chat, and as he puts it. The chat was kicked off by Waltz, who served as national security adviser to President Trump. As it turns out, this chat happened the day before the US started to bomb Houthi rebels in Yemen. It has continued to grab headlines since then. Waltz has repeatedly denied that he ever met or talked to Goldberg. He offered an explanation suggesting that Goldberg’s contact was inadvertently added through another person’s phone contact list.
Goldberg has greeted Waltz’s theory with appropriate skepticism, calling it improbable in the extreme.
“Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones.” – Jeffrey Goldberg
Goldberg went on to explain his position, bending over backwards to lay out the absurdity of the example.
“You know, very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation. My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone.” – Jeffrey Goldberg
Waltz has continued to insist that it was a mystery to him how Goldberg was added to the group chat.
“This one in particular I’ve never met, don’t know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room.” – Mike Waltz
Yet, despite this controversy, President Trump has doubled down on confidence in Waltz, refusing to entertain anything resembling a resignation.
“There was no reason for him to.” – Donald Trump
“He will continue to do a good job.” – Donald Trump
These disclosures are a mistake,” Trump called the disclosures a “mistake,” denying reports of any resignation requests from Waltz. And indeed, the National Security Council (NSC) has verified that these group direct messages are genuine. They’re particularly looking into how Goldberg got into the thread that Waltz initiated.
Waltz had previously lauded the Houthi attacks as “one hell of a good operation,” highlighting his hawkishness and support for the administration’s strikes even more.