'I'm embarrassed', admits US official after accidentally leaking war plans - but says journalist in group chat is 'scum'
26 March 2025, 06:37 | Updated: 26 March 2025, 06:39
The US national security advisor who invited a journalist to a group chat where top White House officials discussed sensitive war plans has said he is "embarrassed".
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Mike Waltz, who accidentally leaked the plans to the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, said he took "full responsibility" - but also accused the journalist of being "the bottom scum".
The group chat on encrypted app Signal saw him, vice-president JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and others discuss secret plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen.
It also featured Vance and Hegseth criticise European countries for relying on the US military, calling them "pathetic".
The extraordinary leak has led to some commentators questioning if officials involved could lose their jobs - but Donald Trump has sought to play it down.
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Mr Waltz told Fox News: "We made a mistake, we’re moving forward and we’re going to continue to knock it out of the park for this President.”
Asked if an aide could be blamed for the error, Mr Waltz insisted: "A staffer wasn’t responsible. And look, I take full responsibility. I built the group."
Mr Waltz then attacked Mr Goldberg, who is the editor of the Atlantic, a liberal magazine, calling him a “loser” and the “bottom scum of journalists”.
Mr Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, more than two hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach.
Mr Trump on Tuesday in a brief interview downplayed the incident as "the only glitch in two months" of his administration "and it turned out not to be a serious one".
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said in post on X that no war plans were discussed and that no classified material was sent to the thread".
Ms Leavitt said on Monday the president still has the "utmost confidence" in Mr Waltz and the national security team. Mr Trump told NBC News on Tuesday that Mr Waltz "has learned a lesson, and he's a good man".
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump told reporters: "I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time." He added that The Atlantic was "not much of a magazine".
