Reporters challenged White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on how the attack plans which inadvertently leaked in a Signal chat were not classified during Wednesday’s briefing.
President Donald Trump and members of his national security team denied that they shared any classified material in the Signal chat whichJeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, accidentally got added to by National Security adviser Mike Waltz. Reporters pointed to the detailed plans laid out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the upcoming military attack on the Houthis in Yemen, raising the questions on whether Goldberg did in fact receive classified information.
“Let me ask you if I can, very quickly. In the chat, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, details F-18s, tomahawks, some of the weapons that were used. He details the timing involved for this, all of which occurred 30 minutes before the F-18s would launch. The DOD manual details classified information as significant military plans saying that is secret, that that’s classified. So what about there are no methods, there are no sources, but that’s not what determines what’s classified. So what is it about what Pete Hegseth wrote that makes you say this is not classified?” NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander asked.
“Well it’s not just me saying that, Peter, it’s the Secretary of Defense himself who is saying this as well and he put out a very strong statement earlier today listing all of the things that were not included in that message that he sent to the group,” Leavitt replied. “And again, in that message, there was no classified information transmitted, there were no war plans discussed. Why did The Atlantic downgrade their allegation about war plans to attack plans? They’re now playing word games because they know this is a sensationalist spin from a reporter who is well known for doing this. We have said all along, no war plans were discussed, no classified material was sent. You have the Secretary of Defense saying that, you have the Director of the CIA, Director of National Intelligence, the FBI director all testifying to that under oath and they should be trusted with that.”
Hegseth stated Wednesday that no names, targets, locations, methods, sources, units or classified information were shared in the Signal chat, arguing that the media intentionally attempted to “peddle hoaxes” about the accidental leak. Transcripts of the messages published by The Atlantic early Wednesday showed that Hegseth listed the type of weaponry, the timing of the planned attack and the targets, who were referred to in the messages as “Target Terrorist.”
National Security adviser Mike Waltz, who accidentally added Goldberg to the chat, shared real-time intelligence about conditions of the attack site, The Atlantic reported.
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Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich then asked Leavitt why launch times on admissions strikes are not considered classified by the White House, leading the press secretary to argue that the nation should trust the defense secretary over Goldberg, a registered Democrat. The press secretary did not directly answer her follow-up question on whether the attacks would have been carried out if the messages had been made public beforehand.
“Again, I would refer you to the Secretary of Defense’s statement that he put out this morning. There were various reasons listed, things that were not included in that messaging thread that were not classified,” Leavitt said. “And again, going back to the American public. Do you trust the Secretary of Defense who was nominated for this role, voted in by the United State Senate to this role, who has served in combat, has honorably served in uniform, or do you trust Jeffrey Goldberg, who is a registered Democrat and an anti-Trump sensationalist reporter?”
CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked whether Trump felt “misled” by his national security advisers after they told him there was no classified information. The press secretary, appearing aggravated, said the president trusts his national security advisers and refused to take Collins’ followup question.
The president defended Waltz from the major scrutiny he has received by stating that he “learned a lesson.” The national security adviser denied ever having Goldberg’s number or ever being acquainted with the editor-in-chief during a Fox News interview Tuesday.
Prior to the briefing, Leavitt referred to Goldberg’s reporting as a “hoax written by a Trump hater.”
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