President Donald Trump downplayed the texting of sensitive plans for a military strike against Yemen’s Houthis this month to a group chat that included a journalist, saying it was “the only glitch in two months” of his administration.
Trump told NBC News that the lapse “turned out not to be a serious one,” and expressed his continued support for national security adviser Mike Waltz.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said.
Waltz said on Tuesday he was not sure how Goldberg ended up on the chat.
“We made a mistake. We’re moving forward,” said Waltz, who added that he took “full responsibility” for the episode.
According to a screenshot of a text chat released by The Atlantic on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted the start time for a planned killing of a Houthi militant in Yemen on March 15 as well as other details of imminent waves of US airstrikes.
Hegseth has denied texting any war plans.
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