Michael Waltz, the national security advisor, found himself suddenly caught up in an information leak. This time it was a member of the press—The Atlantic’s Annie Lowrey. Our Signal thread quickly turned into a vociferous discussion about releasing sensitive military future operating plans. In the chat were Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. As an aside, we didn’t expect Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, to be included on this thread. It was, by all accounts, one of Waltz’s aides who inadvertently mishandled his phone, leading to the blunder. Waltz was directly involved, and President Donald Trump had no knowledge of it.
Shortly after Waltz was placed in this invidious situation, President Trump rushed to defend him, praising his professionalism and integrity. Waltz is still on the job. Trump said the situation was dealt with internally and noted that despite the incident, he has tremendous confidence in Waltz’s abilities.
"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man." – President Donald Trump
The unusual last-minute addition of Goldberg to the Signal discussion alarmed some experts that security procedures within the administration were lacking. Waltz's reputation remains intact as Trump reassured that the advisor's actions were not deliberate and that they had been addressed appropriately.
It was a frankly forgivable oversight on the part of Waltz. This mistake has led to an internal reexamination of how communication is conducted between high-ranking officials. Now the administration is hell bent to make sure that nothing like these runaway successes ever happens again. They acknowledge the unique and sensitive space that these negotiations can create.
The Signal thread in question was specifically about upcoming major operations, perhaps the most sensitive type of information that can be shared. Waltz's accidental mishap highlighted the importance of stringent communication protocols within the government, especially when discussing matters of national security.