March 25, 2025 - A critical detail emerged when Trump was pressed on how Goldberg ended up in the Signal chat. He attributed the error to a lower-level staffer under Waltz’s supervision, stating, "It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there" (NBC News, March 25, 2025). This explanation shifted the blame away from Waltz himself, portraying the inclusion of Goldberg as an accidental oversight by a subordinate rather than a direct action by the National Security Adviser. Trump did not elaborate on the identity of the staffer or the circumstances that led to Goldberg’s number being added, leaving some ambiguity about the precise mechanics of the error.
President Donald Trump in a phone interview with NBC News addressed a significant security breach involving his National Security Adviser, Michael "Mike" Waltz, and the accidental inclusion of The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in a Signal group chat. This conversation, reported by NBC News and other outlets, shed light on Trump’s perspective regarding the incident, his confidence in Waltz, and his administration’s response to what has been described as a startling lapse in operational security. The interview occurred amid growing scrutiny of the administration’s handling of sensitive military planning discussions, particularly those related to U.S. airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that took place on March 15, 2025. Below, I will provide a detailed account of this conversation, drawing from available sources, including NBC News reports and related coverage, while analyzing the implications and context surrounding Trump’s statements.
The interview with NBC News came on the heels of an explosive report published by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic on March 24, 2025. In his article, Goldberg revealed that he had been inadvertently added to a Signal group chat titled "Houthi PC small group" on March 13, 2025, by an account identified as "Michael Waltz" (NBC News, "Trump stands by national security adviser Mike Waltz after Signal texts about Houthi strike sent to reporter," March 25, 2025). This chat included high-ranking Trump administration officials, such as Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, among others. The group was discussing plans for military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, which were executed two days later. Goldberg’s presence in the chat raised serious questions about the administration’s communication security protocols, especially given that Signal, while encrypted, is not a government-approved platform for classified discussions.
The revelation triggered bipartisan criticism, with figures like Democratic Senator Mark Warner calling it "sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior" and Republican Representative Don Bacon urging the White House to "be honest and own up" to the breach (The New York Times, "Trump Team Signal Leak Live Updates," March 25, 2025). The National Security Council had already confirmed the authenticity of the chat, stating, "This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain" (NBC News, March 25, 2025). Against this backdrop, Trump’s conversation with NBC News provided his first substantive public comments on the matter, offering insight into his stance on Waltz’s role and the administration’s damage control strategy.
According to NBC News, Trump spoke with reporter Garrett Haake over the phone on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at a time when the controversy was dominating headlines (NBC News, March 25, 2025). When asked whether he still had confidence in Mike Waltz as his National Security Adviser, Trump responded affirmatively, saying, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man." This statement was a clear endorsement of Waltz, signaling that the president was not inclined to dismiss him despite the security lapse. Trump’s choice of words—"learned a lesson"—suggested that he viewed the incident as a mistake from which Waltz could recover, rather than a fatal flaw warranting immediate removal.
Trump further downplayed the significance of the breach, asserting that Goldberg’s presence in the chat "had no impact at all" on the military operation against the Houthis (NBC News, March 25, 2025). He later characterized the incident as "the only glitch in two months" of his administration, adding, "and it turned out not to be a serious one" (The New York Times, March 25, 2025). These remarks reflected Trump’s broader strategy of minimizing the controversy, aligning with statements from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who claimed that "no ‘war plans’ were discussed" and "no classified material was sent to the thread" (NBC News, March 25, 2025). Trump’s confidence in the success of the Houthi strikes—carried out on March 15, 2025—appeared to bolster his argument that the breach did not compromise national security.
While the NBC News report provides the core of Trump’s comments, other sources offer supplementary context that enriches our understanding of the interview. For instance, Trump’s assertion that a staffer was responsible contrasts with Goldberg’s account, in which he explicitly stated that he received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as "Michael Waltz" on March 11, followed by an invitation to the group chat on March 13 (The Atlantic, cited in NBC News, March 25, 2025). This discrepancy raises questions about whether Waltz personally initiated the contact or if a staffer was operating under his account—a detail Trump did not clarify during the interview.
The timing of the conversation is also noteworthy. NBC News reported that Trump and Waltz had spoken about The Atlantic story on Monday, March 24, 2025, according to two sources familiar with their discussion (NBC News, March 25, 2025). Although it’s unclear whether Waltz first brought the issue to Trump’s attention, this prior conversation likely informed Trump’s measured response during the NBC interview. His tone—supportive yet dismissive of the incident’s severity—suggested a coordinated effort to protect Waltz and deflect criticism from the administration’s inner circle.
Trump’s comments also reflected his broader attitude toward the media, particularly The Atlantic, which he had criticized earlier that day. When initially asked about the story on Monday, he told reporters, "I don’t know anything about it" and "I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic" (NBC News, March 25, 2025). This disdain, rooted in past tensions—such as The Atlantic’s 2020 report claiming Trump disparaged fallen U.S. soldiers—may have influenced his reluctance to treat the breach as a significant scandal. By blaming a staffer and emphasizing Waltz’s competence, Trump sought to undermine the narrative advanced by Goldberg and his publication.
The NBC interview elicited varied responses from political figures and observers. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced Trump’s stance, posting on X that the president "continues to have confidence in his national security team, including Mike Waltz" (NBC News, March 25, 2025). She dismissed reports of Waltz’s potential dismissal as driven by "anonymous sources who clearly do not speak to the President." However, critics like Senator Mark Warner argued that such "incompetence" from top intelligence officials was unacceptable, while Representative Don Bacon called the White House’s denial of war plans in the chat "baloney" (The New York Times, March 25, 2025; NBC News, March 25, 2025).
Within the administration, there was debate about Waltz’s fate. POLITICO reported that senior officials were discussing whether Waltz should resign, with one stating, "You can’t have recklessness as the national security adviser" (POLITICO, "Trump expresses confidence in Waltz amid war plans chat fallout," March 25, 2025). Yet, Trump’s public support during the NBC interview appeared to quell such speculation, at least temporarily. Betting platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi saw the odds of Waltz losing his job drop from 30-35% on Monday evening to around 15% by Tuesday morning following Trump’s remarks (TheWrap, "Trump Brushes Off Atlantic Security Breach," March 25, 2025).
The use of Signal itself became a point of contention. Goldberg noted during an MSNBC appearance on March 25 that while Signal is encrypted, it is "technically considered an unclassified platform" and not intended for government officials to discuss national security matters (TheWrap, March 25, 2025). This critique was echoed by Democratic Senator Jack Reed, who called the episode "one of the most egregious failures of operational security" he had witnessed (CBS News, "Top Trump officials included The Atlantic editor in group chat," March 25, 2025).
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