No one is expected to be fired over the Signal national security group chat incident.
That is according to President Donald Trump, who spoke with NBC News on Saturday.
“I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts,” Trump said.
The issue came to light March 24 when “The Atlantic” revealed its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to a national security group chat, per The Daily Wire.
The chat included top Trump officials discussing airstrikes in Yemen. Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were some of the others who were part of the chat on March 15
Trump replied, “I do,” when asked if he still had confidence in Hegseth and Waltz.
“I think it’s just a witch hunt and the fake news, like you, talk about it all the time, but it’s just a witch hunt, and it shouldn’t be talked [about],” Trump said.
“We had a tremendously successful strike. We struck very hard and very lethal. And nobody wants to talk about that. All they want to talk about is nonsense. It’s fake news,” Trump added.
Trump admitted he was not familiar with the Signal app.
“I have no idea what Signal is. I don’t care what Signal is,” Trump said Saturday. “All I can tell you is it’s just a witch hunt, and it’s the only thing the press wants to talk about, because you have nothing else to talk about. Because it’s been the greatest 100-day presidency in the history of our country.”
The White House said no classified information was a part of the call.
The Trump administration has pushed back against “The Atlantic,” calling Goldberg a hack.
“The National Security Advisor has taken responsibility for this matter, and the National Security Council immediately said alongside the White House Counsel’s Office that they are looking into how a reporter’s number was inadvertently added to this messaging thread,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “We have said all along that no classified material was sent on this messaging thread. There were no locations, no sources or methods revealed, and there were certainly no war plans discussed.”
She then attacked Goldberg.
“There’s arguably no one in the media who loves manufacturing and pushing hoaxes more than Jeffrey Goldberg,” she said. “Goldberg is an anti-Trump hater,” said Leavitt. “He is a registered Democrat. Goldberg’s wife is also a registered Democrat and a big Democrat donor who used to work under Hillary Clinton. This is the same Jeffrey Goldberg who infamously lied about weapons of mass destruction to get us into the Iraq War, which cost trillions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers.”
