Trump brushes off Yemen chat breach as a 'glitch'

AFP | Washington

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US President Donald Trump yesterday dismissed the accidental addition of a journalist to a group chat about Yemen air strikes as a "glitch" and stood by his top national security team despite the stunning breach.

Trump's administration faces mounting pressure following a report on Monday by The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg about the conversation on the Signal messaging app.

The chat about attacks on Iran-backed Huthi rebels involved some of the administration's most senior officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

Trump, who returned to the office in January, told broadcaster NBC in a phone interview that the breach was "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one."

The president added that Waltz, his top security official in the White House, "has learned a lesson, and he's a good man."

Goldberg said he had received a connection request from a user identified as Michael Waltz on Signal. Trump said however that "it was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there."

The White House had earlier pushed back more forcefully on day two of the scandal, after confirming the breach on Monday.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Tuesday that "no 'war plans' were discussed" and "no classified material was sent to the thread."

She also attacked Goldberg as being "well-known for his sensationalist spin."

Hegseth, a former Fox News host with no experience running a huge organization like the Pentagon, had also said late Monday that "nobody was texting war plans."

But top Democrats have condemned the breach, saying it was potentially illegal and calling for an investigation to find out why officials were using a commercially available app for sensitive discussions.

Leavitt said the White House's Counsel's Office "has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump's top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible."

The White House was also "looking into how Goldberg's number was inadvertently added to the thread."