'I Take Full Responsibility, I Built the Group': Trump's Advisor Mike Waltz on US War Plans Group Chat Leak

Washington DC: Mike Waltz, Security Advisor of US President Donald Trump , claimed "full responsibility" on Tuesday for accidentally adding a senior journalist to a group chat in which top government officials reportedly discussed the country's military actions in Yemen, AP reported.

Waltz, in his first interview on the security breach with Fox News, said, "It’s embarrassing, yes. We’re going to get to the bottom of it," adding We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened."

When asked if the staffer is responsible for adding the journalist to the group, Waltz said, "A staffer wasn’t responsible. I take full responsibility. I built the group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated."

Furthermore, responding to a question on how the journalist's number ended up int he group, the US security advisor said, "Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else’s number there? … Of course I didn’t see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical mean is something we’re trying to figure out."

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump minimized the significance of a leak involving sensitive military plans for an airstrike against Yemen's Houthis, which were inadvertently sent to a group chat that included a journalist. Trump described the incident as "the only glitch in two months" of his presidency, despite sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers who accused the administration of mishandling classified information.

"He’s a good man, and Michael Waltz has learned from this," Trump remarked.

What Happened?  

The leak stemmed from Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz, mistakenly adding journalist Goldberg to a Signal group chat. On March 15, just two hours after the plans were exposed, the US carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen—strikes that matched the details in the leaked messages.

In his initial response, Hegseth downplayed the situation, stating, "Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I’ll say on that." He offered no explanation for why Signal, an encrypted yet unclassified app, was used for such critical discussions or how Goldberg’s contact ended up in the chat.

The National Security Council has since opened an investigation into the incident.

The leak comes at a delicate moment, following Hegseth’s recent pledge to crack down on information leaks, including potential lie detector tests for defense staff. While Signal offers more security than regular messaging, experts point out it isn’t classified and is susceptible to human errors like this.

The blunder has sparked comparisons to past scandals, such as Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, though that case resulted in no legal action. Democratic leaders, including Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, now demand a thorough probe under the Espionage Act, which regulates the handling of national defense secrets.

With the US conducting strikes against the Houthis since November 2023, the administration is under growing scrutiny to clarify how the breach happened and whether it jeopardized the Yemen operation. The reliance on unclassified apps by Trump’s team has raised broader concerns about national security risks as the investigation continues.