Donald Trump’s administration remains under fire over the alarming security breach that saw Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, added by mistake to a Signal group chat in which the president’s most senior security officials discussed upcoming military action.
The magazine published their text exchange in full on Wednesday after the administration denied classified information was compromised.
Trump said his National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has nothing to apologize for and has attempted to shift the blame towards an unnamed “lower level” White House employee instead, despite Waltz himself saying he takes “full responsibility” for the disaster.
Also swept up in the scandal centered on an operation targeting Houthi positions in Yemen are Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance. Hegseth shared strike times and other details in the chat and is facing calls for his resignation from Democrats. The White House is pushing back by claiming there is a difference between “attack plans” and “war plans.”
At a testy and somewhat curtailed White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked Goldberg as a “Trump-hater,” wouldn’t explain why the administration doesn’t believe the timings of attacks and weaponry used were not classified information, and then refused follow-up questions.
Report: Trump was ‘p*****’ at Mike Waltz for the text blunder
Ariana Baio reports.
Fears for future of abortion pill with Trump’s FDA pick
The abortion pill mifepristone, used in the majority of U.S. abortions, faces an uncertain future under the new Republican administration.
Makary has declined to specify his stance on the drug during recent Senate health committee hearings, leaving many wondering about potential restrictions.
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Crockett refuses to apologize for calling Gov. Greg Abbott ‘Hot wheels’
Rep. Jasmine Crockett is refusing to apologize for calling wheelchair-bound Texas Governor Greg Abbott ‘Hot Wheels’ despite immense backlash and threats of congressional censure.
The progressive Texas Democrat released a statement following the uproar Tuesday, stating she “wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition” and insisted it was not a jibe about Abbott being differently abled.
Madeline Sherratt reports.
White House continues to deny classified materials were released in group chat
The White House continues to push back on what is considered classified information and what is not, seemingly by saying that if it was included in the Signal group chat, it was not classified — such as the timings and weaponry used.
“The president’s view on all of this remains the same today as it did yesterday,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt says. “There was no classified material discussed.”
Further, despite the Department of Defense handbook stating what is and is not classified, Leavitt says that Secretary Pete Hegseth says what is not classified.
Leavitt also confirmed that Elon Musk’s team will be investigating Signalgate, in addition to the National Security Council and the White House Counsel’s Office. They are apparently going to look at the inadvertent addition of Goldberg’s number to the Signal chat by NSA Mike Waltz.
Despite the focus of the briefing for reporters being on the Signal debacle, Leavitt refuses to take a follow-up question from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and pivots to a Trump-friendly outlet.
Trump’s trade war is hitting a U.S. exclave reliant on Canada
In a quirky US exclave nestled in the northwest corner of Washington state, the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff war is inescapable. Point Roberts, Washington, is reliant on Canada, and now finds its future uncertain.
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Trump to make auto tariffs announcement today
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Watch LIVE: White House briefs press after Trump cabinet included journalist in airstrikes group chat
How did Fox News handle release of new damaging texts from Signal chat?
Calling the White House’s bluff, The Atlantic released the messages Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent to a Signal chat group — which inadvertently included Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg — detailing the attack plans on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Immediately and unsurprisingly, the denizens of President Donald Trump’s favorite morning talk show dismissed the bombshell revelation as a nothingburger, insisting that Goldberg had “overpromised” when he first reported that Hegseth had shared “war plans” in an unclassified text chain that included a journalist who was randomly added to it.
Justin Baragona reports.
Source: independent.co.uk