Mike Waltz gave up a safe Congressional seat in Florida to serve as the Trump Administration’s national security adviser. In the first Trump presidency, several officials, including Jeff Sessions and Mark Meadows, gave up safe seats in Congress and likely lived to regret it.
Trump, in his second term, hasn’t been quite as trigger-happy when it comes to firing people, although that was before this week’s scandal when the Atlantic revealed that top administration officials had discussed plans for the recent attack on the Houthis in Yemen on the non-secure commercial messaging app Signal, and that journalist Jeffrey Goldberg had been accidentally included on the chat.
Mike Waltz and Signalgate
Mike Waltz is the person who added Goldberg to the chat, as originally reported by The Atlantic; in a follow-up story on Wednesday that published more of the Signal exchange, this was further confirmed with the publication of a screenshot, from Goldberg’s Signal account, stating “Mike Waltz added you to the group.”
Waltz admitted in a television interview that “I built the group.” However, he also claimed that Elon Musk is going to investigate how the Goldberg addition happened, and also hinting that Goldberg’s name had somehow been switched out with a different name in his contact list.
So far, the president has stood by Waltz, telling NBC News that “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.”
Waltz, for his part, has taken responsibility, although he did hint at conspiracism in his Fox News appearance Tuesday, hinting at a nefarious motive for a reporter who has written critical stories about Trump in the past.
What Does Trump Really Think?
Politico reported Wednesday on what’s going on behind the scenes in Trumpworld in the aftermath of the Atlantic report, which indicates that this is a rare moment in the second Trump era in which a mainstream media report has drawn blood.
The report said that despite the public vote of confidence, “Trump was mad — and suspicious” that Waltz had Goldberg in his contact list in the first place.
The implication is that Waltz had served, at some point, as a journalistic source for Goldberg. The Signal app is often used by journalists for discussions with sources.
The Trump White House, like all White Houses, has tried hard to eliminate embarrassing leaks, although they have had more success than they did in the early months of Trump’s first term when White House meetings would sometimes be reported on verbatim in the New York Times within the hour.
And while Waltz claimed that “I’ve never met, don’t know, never communicated with” Jeffrey Goldberg, journalist Anna Bower on Wednesday posted a photo of the two men standing next to each other, at a 2021 event at the French embassy, at which Goldberg interviewed the director of a French documentary.
Trump, per the Politico piece, especially dislikes Goldberg and The Atlantic, who published the 2020 story claiming Trump had referred to American war dead as “suckers and losers.”
Could Waltz be Fired for Signalgate?
Trump, once again, has vowed that he has confidence in Waltz. But the Administration could be forced into a different decision, should the scandal continue to have legs.
In a separate Politico piece on Wednesday, Administration officials weighed in on the mushrooming controversy.
“Own it, fire Waltz, move on,” an anonymous “person close to the White House” told Politico.
“Well, Waltz just opened the door for the FBI to investigate the compromise of his text chain,” one official wrote in a message obtained by the outlet, citing Waltz’s implication in the Fox interview that Goldberg had gotten onto the text chain by some type of subterfuge.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
It’s widely believed that a Pam Bondi-led Justice Department or a Kash Patel-led FBI would be unlikely to pursue any type of major investigation of the Trump Administration, but that assumption could be put to the test in a situation like this- especially if Waltz gets cut loose.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
