Waltz takes responsibility for Yemen chat leak, Trump downplays the impact

U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday claims "full responsibility" for mistakenly adding a journalist to a group chat in which top American officials discussed impending strikes in Yemen, while U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have downplayed the impact of the security breach.

"I take full responsibility. I built the group; my job is to make sure everything's coordinated," Waltz told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in his first interview on the security breach, adding that he does not personally know Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was added to the chat.

Waltz also said there is an investigation into how Jeffrey Goldberg, Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief was invited to join the secret group discussion.

According to Goldberg, he received a connection request on the Signal, an encrypted commercial messaging app, from a user named Michael Waltz on March 11. However, at the time, it was unclear whether this was the official's actual account of the U.S. national security advisor.

Two days later Goldberg was inadvertently included in an 18-member group chat in which Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top American officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Goldberg said he initially thought it was a hoax but he realized the messages were authentic once the planned raid was carried out in Yemen.

Read more:

Explainer: How did a U.S. journalist end up in a secret chat on Yemen air strike plans?

Trump: No classified information disclosed

Trump on Tuesday expressed support for Waltz, saying that there was no classified information disclosed.

"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man," Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.

He also said Goldberg's addition to the group was a "glitch" that had "no impact at all" operationally.

Trump indicated it was one of Waltz's aides who had invited the journalist to the chat. "A staffer had his number on there."

The Republican president said the administration would look into the use of Signal, but said he did not think Waltz should apologize.

Trump also doubled down by attacking Goldberg as a "sleazebag" and said "nobody gives a damn" about the story that has rocked Washington.

Senators ask for answers

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe – who were both reported to be in the chat – endured a stormy Senate Intelligence Committee hearing over the leak on Tuesday.

They both claimed that no classified material was shared in the group chat but Democratic senators voiced skepticism, noting that Goldberg reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted operational details about pending strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, "including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing."

Committee members said they planned – and Gabbard and Ratcliffe agreed to – an audit of the exchange. The Senate's Republican majority leader, John Thune, said on Tuesday he expected the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into Trump administration officials' use of Signal.

"It's hard for me to believe that targets and timing and weapons would not have been classified," Senator Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said at the contentious hearing, which featured several sharp exchanges.

Gabbard and Ratcliffe will face more lawmakers on Wednesday when the House of Representatives will hold its annual "Worldwide Threats" hearing. Democrats said they planned to discuss the Signal chat.

The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, led calls for Hegseth's resignation, calling for him to "be fired" if he did not quit. In his statement, Martin blasted Hegseth as "unfit to lead the Defense Department even before he risked our national security."

"Hegseth should resign, and if he doesn't resign, he should be fired. It's crystal clear that our men and women in uniform deserve better – and that our national security cannot be left in Hegseth's incompetent and unqualified hands," Martin added.

(With input from agencies)