US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday, adding it was “embarrassing”.
President Donald Trump and US intelligence chiefs have downplayed the security risks and said no classified material was shared.
But Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several lawmakers have described as a major breach.
Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he was accidentally added to the Signal chat by a user named Mike Waltz.
In his article that broke the story he says he saw classified military plans for US strikes in Yemen, including weapons packages, targets and timing, two hours before the bombs struck. That content was held back from the piece.
Waltz was unable to explain in his Fox News interview how Goldberg came to be on the chat but – contradicting Trump – he said a member of his staff was not responsible and another, unnamed contact of his was supposed to be there in Goldberg’s place.
“We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened,” Waltz continued, adding that Goldberg’s number had not been on his phone.
“I can tell you for 100% I don’t know this guy,” Waltz said, adding that he had spoken to Elon Musk for help in finding out what happened.
President Trump played down the incident, calling it a “glitch” that had “no impact at all” operationally.
Speaking to Newsmax, Trump said somebody who worked with Mike Waltz at a lower level had Goldberg’s phone number.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe denied at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that any classified information was shared in the message chain.
The Signal group chat also included accounts identified as being Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Mark Warner, Democratic vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: “This Signal chat situation sheds light on a sloppy and grossly incompetent national security strategy from the Trump administration.”
