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President Trump has expressed his continued trust in National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
President Trump has stated that he will not be dismissing anyone in response to a journalist’s access of a Signal app chat containing discussions of military operations by high-ranking administration officials.
The Atlantic reported on Monday about supposed private conversations among Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other top officials concerning U.S. strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the article’s author, said he obtained the information after National Security Adviser Mike Waltz added him to a Signal chat group called ‘Houthi PC small group’.
When NBC News asked on Saturday whether Waltz or Hegseth, who allegedly shared a detailed timeline of the planned attacks in the chat, would face consequences for the leak, Trump responded: “I do not fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts.”
The president asserted that he remains confident in both his national security advisor 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 stated.
Politico reported on Friday that Vance was among the administration members who requested Trump to fire Waltz following the incident.
The outlet’s sources claimed Trump conceded that his adviser “messed up,” but ultimately decided not to fire him. “Like hell he would give the liberal media and pearl-clutching Democrats a win,” one source reportedly said.
Waltz’s spokesman, Brian Hughes, refuted the report, calling it “gossip from people lacking the integrity to attach their names.” He stated that the national security adviser “serves at the pleasure of President Trump” and continues to have his support.
On Friday, Waltz accompanied Vance on a trip to Greenland, where the vice president downplayed media speculation regarding tensions within the administration and defended the national security team.
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