USA Trump on the security breach: "I was not involved"
US President Donald Trump distances himself from his administration's drastic security breach with a secret chat.
26.03.2025, 03:58
SDA
"I was not involved," he told the right-wing channel Newsmax. At the same time, he expressed satisfaction with the statements made so far by his cabinet members on the matter. He felt comfortable with what he had heard.
According to Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, he was responsible for giving the editor-in-chief of "Atlantic" magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, access to sensitive communications relating to a US military strike against the Houthi militia in Yemen. Goldberg was - probably by mistake - invited into the group chat of several ministers and senior members of the government on the messenger app Signal and was able to read live plans about the upcoming US military action in Yemen.
Trump now said that as far as he understood, no secret information was exchanged in the group chat about the upcoming military operation, in which the journalist got involved for unknown reasons. However, he emphasized that he only knew what he had been told.
Waltz takes full responsibility
Meanwhile, Waltz took full responsibility for the journalist getting into the secret group chat. He had formed the group himself, Waltz told the Fox News channel. That was embarrassing. However, he did not know how the journalist's number got into his cell phone and how he then joined the group. Perhaps a contact in his address book had been saved in his cell phone with a different number.
He had never met the "Atlantic" editor-in-chief Goldberg - a Trump hater, scum and loser, as he called him - and had never sent him a text message, Waltz said. In coordination with Trump confidant Elon Musk, who became rich as a tech entrepreneur, the best technicians would now get to the bottom of the matter.
Trump comes to Waltz's defense
The security adviser also made it clear that he did not want Goldberg to publish the entire course of the chat - only excerpts of which have been made public so far. Trump had previously defended Waltz in the White House and said: "He is a very good man and he will continue to do a good job."
The fact that high-ranking members of the government exchange sensitive information at all via the commercial app Signal sparked outrage. The fact that details about an imminent military strike were discussed there and a journalist was accidentally included in the group caused bewilderment. The misstep made waves and made headlines beyond the USA. Several Democrats are calling for personal consequences.
