President Donald Trump stood firmly behind National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday after revelations that a journalist had been inadvertently added to a private Signal group chat used during a recent military operation.
During a press briefing, when questioned about the potential repercussions for the individual responsible for the mishap, President Trump dismissed the notion of punitive action.
He emphasized the imperfections inherent in technology, noting that such mishaps are not indicative of negligence but rather the occasional pitfalls of modern communication tools.
Trump further elaborated on the situation, expressing his confidence in Waltz’s capabilities and judgment. He said Waltz does not need to apologize.
Reporter:
The White House has evidence looking into how a journalist got added to that Signal chat. Is it possible that there could be a firing of even a lower or mid-level official once that person is identified, regarding the Signal chat that we’ve been discussing?Trump:
We’ve pretty much looked into it. It’s pretty simple, to be honest. It’s just something that can happen. It can happen—you can even prepare for it—and it can still happen. Sometimes people are hooked in, and you don’t know they’re hooked in. They’re hooked into your line, and they don’t even mean bad by it. But it’s not a perfect technology. There is no perfect technology. The really good ones are very cumbersome—very hard to access. I think we’re going to look at… we always want to use the best technology. This was the best technology for the moment. But again, it wasn’t classified, so they probably viewed it as being something that wasn’t that important. Obviously, with the attack being—I don’t know if it’s been read out to you yet—but that attack was a tremendous success for the U.S. A tremendous success.Reporter:
Who said the operation was not classified? Do you think that might have been a mistake, and does he need to apologize?Trump:
No, I don’t think he should apologize. I think he’s doing his best. It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect, and probably he won’t be using it again, at least not in the very near future.Mike Waltz:
I agree with you. Let’s get everybody in the room whenever possible.Trump:
A lot of times you find out defects by exactly things like that. But I don’t think it’s something we’re looking forward to being forced to use. You may be in a situation where you need speed as opposed to gross safety, and you may be forced to use it. But generally speaking, I think we probably won’t be using it very much.
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