‘Don’t think he should apologize’: Donald Trump backs national security advisor Waltz amid Signal text leak fallout – The Times of India

US President Donald Trump on Monday defended national security advisor Michael Waltz, as his administration faces intense scrutiny over the recent Signal text chain leak that inadvertently exposed sensitive war discussions to a journalist.
Waltz has been under fire after a staffer in his office mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to a Signal group chat where high-ranking officials, including secretary of state Pete Hegseth, discussed planned military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Despite the blunder, Trump dismissed calls for an apology, saying that Waltz was “doing his best.”
“I don’t think he should apologise,” Trump said during a meeting with ambassadors. “I think he’s doing his best. It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect.”

He added, “And, probably, he won’t be using it again, at least not in the very near future.”
“Our National Security is stronger than it has ever been. We have had very successful and numerous attacks on that area (Yemen). These are the people (Houthis) that shoot down ships right out of the water. They also happen to be shooting anything that is flying through the area. There was no classified information, as I understand. They used an app that a lot of people in the government and the media use. The Houthis are on the run; the worst ones have been killed. This should have been done a long time ago. They randomly shoot missiles on ships, and they make their own missiles. The Atlantic is a failed magazine and nobody gives a damn about it. He (Mike Waltz) is a very good man and he will continue to do a good job,” he said while responding to a question on whether he will make any changes after the controvery.
During the meeting, Trump asked the NSA to say something on the issue, to which Waltz said, “There are a lot of journalists in the city who have made big names for themselves, making up lies about this President. We are looking into how this one in particular got into the room. The world owes President Trump a favour. Under Biden, global shipping was shut down. We have a National security team that was coordinating these efforts.”

Goldberg, who gained access to the high-level national security conversation titled “Houthi PC Small Group,” detailed in an article how he inadvertently received real-time updates on planned airstrikes in Yemen.
“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1.45 pm Eastern time,” Goldberg wrote. “So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1.55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.”

While Goldberg’s unexpected access did not compromise the military operation, the breach has sparked widespread concern about security vulnerabilities within the Trump administration.
During the meeting, Trump also raised questions about the security of encrypted messaging services like Signal, hinting at a potential shift to alternative communication tools.
“Are people able to break into conversations? And if that’s true, we’re gonna have to find some other form of device,” Trump said. “And I think that’s something that we may have to do. Some people like Signal very much, other people probably don’t, but we’ll look into it.”
He tasked Waltz with investigating potential vulnerabilities, saying, “Michael, I’ve asked you to immediately study that and find out if people are able to break into a system.”
In response, Waltz assured the president that White House technical experts and legal teams were actively reviewing the situation.
“And of course, we’re going to keep everything as secure as possible,” Waltz said. “No one in your national security team would ever put anyone in danger. And as you said, we’ve repeatedly said the attack was phenomenal, and it’s ongoing.”