Mike Waltz, the man who caused Signalgate, actually hosted multiple chats about national security on the app, sources have told the Wall Street Journal.
The national security adviser accidentally added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat where top Trump aides were discussing a strike on terrorists in Yemen. President Donald Trump was said to be furious but, at least publicly, stood by his man. Waltz, however, is reportedly walking on eggshells.
The Journal also reports that Waltz has a bit of a penchant for Signal, using it to create several group chats where national security-related issues were discussed with close Trump advisors.
Two U.S. officials told the publication that he had started several “sensitive national-security conversations” on the nongovernment channel with Cabinet members.
These included chats about methods on how to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, as well as military operations. The sources demurred to tell the Times whether any sensitive information was shared.
Trump’s main point of contention, however, was not that Waltz had carelessly discussed sensitive military information in the infamous Signal chat.
Rather, it was the fact that Waltz had Goldberg’s number in his phone at all, which would seem to imply a connection between the two.
Trump despises Goldberg, who has broken embarrassing stories about the president, including that he once praised “Hitler’s generals” (a claim Trump denies).
He also reportedly does not want to cave to the critical media coverage of the debacle, several people familiar with Trump’s thinking told The New York Times. They also said he did not like the appearance of firing a senior official so early into his term.
The White House pointed the Daily Beast to Karoline Leavitt’s statement last week, where she said that Signal is an approved application for government use. “Signal has been an approved app for government use. It’s an encrypted app, and as I said, it’s the most safe and efficient way of communicating, especially when people can’t be in a skiff or inside a room physically together,” the White House spokeswoman said.
