Trump Official Claims Journalist He Reportedly Added To War Plan Chat Is ‘Making Up Lies’
Mike Waltz, the Trump administration official who reportedly added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a highly sensitive group chat regarding war strikes in Yemen, is now striking out against the journalist’s story.
During a meeting with President Donald Trump where reporters were allowed to ask questions, the national security adviser claimed he has never met Goldberg and accused the journalist of “making up lies” ― even though a spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed the text thread Goldberg reported on was real.
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“There’s a lot of journalists in this city who have made big names for themselves making up lies about this president,” Waltz said. “Whether it’s the Russia hoax or making up lies about Gold Star families, and this one in particular I’ve never met, don’t know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room.”
Waltz then attempted to save his job by changing the subject and praising his fearless leader.
“But I’ll tell you what, the world owes President Trump a favor,” he said. “Under Biden, global shipping was shut down. Pinprick attacks, months between them, our destroyers being fired upon dozens of times. President Trump took decisive action with his national security team, took out the head missileer, knocked out missiles, knocked out headquarters, knocked out communication sites. And for once, as we hear, as you all hear from every one of our allies, thank God for American leadership again, thank God for American strength. You’re welcome.”
Waltz continued to kiss up to Trump and threw in an attack on Goldberg’s reputation to boot.
“So, look, this journalist, Mr. President, wants the world talking about more hoaxes and this kind of nonsense rather than the freedom that you’re enabling,” Waltz said. “And a key part of our sovereignty is open sea lanes and knocking the crap out of terrorists, which is exactly what your team and [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth, a good friend and fellow veteran, is leading the charge on. And it’s an honor to be a part of it.”
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Trump felt obliged to attack Goldberg as well and told reporters after Waltz spoke that “the person that was on [the group chat[ just happens to be a sleazebag, so maybe that’s just coincidence. I don’t know … he’s basically bad for the country.”
You can see the exchange below:
Goldberg stands by his story and told The Bulwark’s podcast on Tuesday afternoon that he is considering publishing more of the texts to counter the Trump administration’s attempts to downplay the story’s significance.
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