The US president has said he still trusts National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
US President Donald Trump has said he has no plans to fire anyone after a journalist accessed a chat on the Signal encrypted messaging app in which senior members of the administration discussed military operations.
On Monday, The Atlantic magazine detailed purported confidential conversations between Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other high-ranking officials regarding US strikes against the Houthi fighters in Yemen.
The author of the article, Jeffrey Goldberg, claimed to have obtained the information after being added to a chat on Signal called ‘Houthi PC small group’ by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Asked by NBC News on Saturday if Waltz or Hegseth, who are said to have shared a detailed timeline of the planned attacks on the chat, will face repercussions over the leak, Trump replied: “I do not fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts.”
The president insisted that he still has confidence in both his national security adviser and the defense secretary.
“I have no idea what Signal is. I do not care what Signal is. All I can tell you is it is just a witch hunt, and it is the only thing the press wants to talk about because you have nothing else to talk about; because it has been the greatest 100-day presidency in the history of our country,” he said.
Politico reported on Friday that Vance was among the members of the administration who asked Trump to fire Waltz after the incident.
The outlet’s sources claimed Trump agreed that his adviser “messed up,” but ultimately decided against firing him. “Like hell he would give the liberal media and pearl-clutching Democrats a win,” one source explained.
Waltz’s spokesman, Brian Hughes, denied the report, calling it “gossip from people lacking the integrity to attach their names.” The national security adviser “serves at the pleasure of President Trump” and continues to have his support, the spokesman said.
On Friday, Waltz accompanied Vance on a visit to Greenland, where the vice president dismissed media speculation about tensions in the administration and defended the national security team.
