The administration of the United States President Donald Trump continued to face a decline from an article in Atlantic, which revealed that Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group chat, where top-level government officials discussed plans to bomb Yemen.
The White House was in damage control mode on Tuesday, trying to dismiss the allegations that government mystery was at risk.
“There was no classified information, as I understand it,” Trump said at a meeting of the US ambassadors, waving the scam aside.
“We have noticed it too much. It is very simple, to be honest. This is just something that can happen.”
He told reporters that he had no intention of demanding punishment, while stopping the use of the social media app signal or asked those involved to apologize.
Trump’s comments come in response to Goldberg’s article, published a day earlier, in which the editor explains how he received an invitation on a messaging platform signal from a user, known as Michael Waltz, the National Security Advisor of the White House.
Goldberg accepted the invitation. He quickly found himself in the middle of a conversation about the qualities of bombing fighters in Yemen.
While Goldberg refused to quote specific military information from the chat, he shared an article published between the officials at the highest level of the government, which included the Vice President JD Vance and the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
For example, Vance, Hegseth and Homeland’s Security Advisor Stephen Miller was quoted as a debate on attacks and can be “extracted” from Europe in exchange for bomb blasts.
The vice -president, in particular, expresses concern that the bomb blasts did more to benefit European trade in the Red Sea, where the Hothis are known to attack the navy and shipping ships.
The article made a splash at Washington, DC, as it was published. Questions were raised about why sensitive information was discussed on a non-governmental platform and what text messages would be preserved, as required by federal record laws.
Some of those questions were placed directly in signal chat as two participants, John Ratcliffe, director of CIA and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Both Ratklif and Gabbard testified at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, which was facing grilling from Democrats.
“It was not only muddy. It not only violated all the procedures, but if this information had been found, American life could have been lost. If Hothis had this information, they could rebuild their defensive systems.”
“It is also only for me that all these senior people were on this line, and no one bothered to investigate security cleanliness 101.”
At the hearing, another Democrat Senator Ron Widen called the signal chat “clearly careless, clearly dangerous”.
“Both classified information is intentionally destroyed by the wrong and federal records, which should be investigated immediately,” Widen said. “And I want to clarify that I think that the National Security Advisor and Defense Secretary must resign to start.”
Classified information questions
However, the position of the White House is that no classified information was released on the signal chat.
In his article, Goldberg is clear that the top-covered information was included in group chat messages.
Goldberg wrote, “Information inherent in them, if he was read by an opponent of the United States, could be imagined to harm American military and intelligence personnel.”
If Goldberg repeated that information in his publication, he could open himself for legal results. Instead, Goldberg offered a broad-stroke details as to what was transparen in the chat.
He said, “What I would say, to describe the shocking negligence of this signal conversation, the Hegseth Post included the operating details of the upcoming attacks on Yemen, including information about the goals, weapons, will be deployed, and attacked the sequencing,” he wrote.
But on Tuesday, the Trump administration said to the assessment, saying that no secret was revealed in the signal chat.
“Jeffrey Goldberg is famous for his sensational spin,” White House Press Secretary Karolin Lewit wrote On social media. “Here are the facts about his latest story: 1. No ‘war plan’ was discussed. 2. No classified material was sent to thread.”
Ratcliffe and Gabbard repeated a similar comment at the hearing at Capital Hill, refusing to share the top-patched information on the signal, whether on that chat or someone else.
“To be clear, I have not participated in any signal group messaging that belongs to any classified information,” said Ratcliffe.
“I have only one answer,” Gabbard resonated. Unlike Ratcliffe, Gabbard also refused to accept if she was a participant in the chat, as stated in Goldberg’s article.
Their status caused a warm collision with Senator Warner who argued that – if there was no classified information in the chat – its content should be released immediately for review.
“Why are you not going into nuances? Is this because it is all classified?” Warner asked.
“Because it is currently subject to review by national security -” Gabbard began to respond, as Warner intervened: “Because it is all classified? If it is not classified, share lessons now.”
In a meeting with the US ambassadors, meanwhile, Trump denied that there was a national security violation.
“Our national security is now stronger than ever,” Trump told reporters. Instead, they blamed the technique – and the signal app especially – to allow Goldberg to reach private chats.
“This is not an ideal technique. There is no right technique. Really good people are very cumbersome, very difficult,” he said.
Trump ruled with rivalry with Atlantic
On sensitive information in signal chat, the scam allowed Trump to renew his widely renewed against the Atlantic magazine, where Goldberg works.
Trump criticized the magazine in the past, especially after a 2020 report published, claiming that the Republican leader had personally rejected the soldiers falling as “lost” and “suckers”. Trump himself is not a military experienced, but he has publicly questioned the service of soldiers such as the late Senator John McCain.
Goldberg also wrote that article. Trump denied the allegations at that time, called the article “insult”.
The Republican leader has long published against mainstream media outlets, even suggesting that their reporting could be illegal.
As he addressed the scam at Tuesday’s meeting, Trump again rejected Goldberg for his reporting.
“I know the man has a total sled bag,” said Trump. “Atlantic is a unsuccessful magazine. Very, very poorly. Nobody gives a shame about it. It gives it a little bit of a shot. And I will tell you: they have made more stories. And they are just a failed magazine. The public understands.”
Trump then moved to Waltz, who was also sitting in the meeting, and proceeded to defend the clear mistake of the advisor in inviting Goldberg to the signal chat.
“He is a very good man. That man is a very good man, while you criticize,” Trump said, pointing to Waltz. “He is a very good man, and he will continue to do a good job.”
Waltz, a former US representative to the Florida state, quipped himself to pointing the finger on the Atlantic and its editor.
“I think there are a lot of lessons. There are many journalists in this city who have made big names about this President,” Waltz said.
“This is a particularly, I never found. Don’t know. Never communicated. And we are looking at her and reviewing how she reached this room.”
However, Democrats has praised Goldberg for not publishing national security secrets and voluntarily removing themselves from signal chat.
“No matter whether the Defense Secretary or other people want to dislike him, this journalist had at least morals to not report,” senator Warner said in intelligence hearing, I think everything he has heard, he has heard everything. “
Trump ‘free-loading’ doubles on Europe
However, Goldberg cited Verbetim, however, there were messages where top officials discussed whether to delay Yemen attacks – and whether the Europe would benefit the most from bomb blasts.
For example, an account seems to be related to Vice President Vance, for example, a comment was posted as to how much European trade goes through the Red Sea and the surrounding waterways.
Vance allegedly wrote, “3 percent of the US trade runs through Suez. 40 percent of European trade. There is a real risk that the public does not understand it or why it is necessary,” Wanes allegedly wrote.
“I am not sure that the President is aware of how incompatible it is with his message in Europe right now.”
Vance postponed the bombing for a month, but he eventually withdrew his objections – although not without another swipe in Europe.
“If you think we should do this, let’s go. I only hate Europe from taking out again,” Vance has written.
For this, Defense Secretary Hegseth reportedly replied, “VP: I fully share my hatred of European free-loading. It is pathetic.”
Backerroom Hagling confirms what has been estimated for a long time in the public sector: the relationship between the US and Europe is on the slide downwards.
Trump has accused Europe of taking advantage of America, which indicates the trade deficit that consumes more European goods to the Americans than to the contrary. On 2 April, his administration called Trump “mutual tariff”, plans to implement those who match import taxes.
In Tuesday’s meeting, Trump was asked if he agreed with Hegseth and Vance assessment that Europe was “free-loading”.
“Do you really want to answer me?” Trump asked, Deadpan. “Yes. I think they are freeliding. European Union is absolutely terrible to us on trade. Terrible.”
Then he changed the direction with his peace talks with Russia and Ukraine, avoiding his peace talks with the upcoming tariff. “I think I have been very impartial for those countries who have actually misbehaved for many, several decades.”
