On Sunday, President Donald Trump criticized how journalists have framed Mike Waltz&#8217;s transition from national security adviser to nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Several media outlets <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flurry-of-reports-claim-mike-waltz-out-as-national-security-adviser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last week that Waltz, a former Republican congressman from Florida and Green Beret veteran, was ousted from his White House role after he took responsibility for the &#8220;Signalgate&#8221; controversy. However, when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX2TDnN5F4Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> by reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from Florida to Washington, D.C., Trump rejected the notion that Waltz stepped down, let alone was forced out.
&#8220;I just moved him. There was no resignation,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;You people are so bad. You&#8217;re trying to make a big deal out of something that&#8217;s not.&#8221;
In fact, the president insisted moments earlier, Waltz had been promoted.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s an upgrade,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump dismissed the suggestion that appointing Waltz as his national security adviser was a mistake.
&#8220;He was fine and, where he is, he&#8217;ll do a good job,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump also shut down a reporter who asked what made him lose confidence in Waltz.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t lose confidence in him. Why did I lose confidence? He&#8217;s going to the United Nations — to me, I think it&#8217;s — personally, if I had to choose for myself &#8230; I&#8217;d rather have that job than the other,&#8221; Trump said.
The &#8220;Signalgate&#8221; controversy began after The Atlantic&#8217;s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported in late March that he had inadvertently gained access to a Signal group chat in which leading Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
In the ensuing fallout, Waltz took responsibility for the breach, which has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/so-damn-dangerous-signal-chat-breach-linked-to-automated-suggestion-feature-on-iphone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">linked</a> to the “automated suggestion” feature on his iPhone. But the Trump administration denied there was classified information in the conversation, and the president had stood by Waltz.
On May 1, hours after a flurry of reports <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flurry-of-reports-claim-mike-waltz-out-as-national-security-adviser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Waltz was out as national security adviser, Trump delivered a surprise announcement in which he revealed that he was nominating Waltz to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a move that followed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pulls-stefanik-nomination-united-nations-ambassador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrawn</a> as the original nominee.
Unlike with his role as national security adviser, Waltz will have to go through a Senate confirmation process to be affirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Senate Democrats are predicting a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-democrats-predicting-brutal-un-ambassador-confirmation-hearing-mike-waltz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;brutal&#8221;</a> confirmation hearing, whenever one is scheduled.
As Waltz prepares for his new role, Trump is already looking ahead to fill the vacancy left by Waltz’s departure from the national security adviser position.
On Air Force One, the president <a href="https://x.com/AutismCapital/status/1919217781846708651" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters that he aims to pick a new national security adviser in the next six months. When asked if he is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-trump-white-house-aide-in-running-to-take-post-vacated-by-mike-waltz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considering</a> White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Trump said Miller is &#8220;at the top of the totem pole&#8221; and &#8220;indirectly, already has that job.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;That&#039;s Why Nobody Watches You&#039;: Trump Gets Testy With Reporter Asking About Mike Waltz&#039;s Job Change" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UX2TDnN5F4Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mike Waltz

‘You People Are So Bad’: Trump Shreds Media’s Portrayal Of Mike Waltz Switcheroo

Donald Trump

Executive

Media

National Security

Politics

United Nations

President Donald Trump may tap White House Deputy Chief of Staff <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-is-child-torture-stephen-miller-lays-out-trump-plan-to-end-barbaric-child-gender-transitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Miller</a> to serve as his next National Security Adviser, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/02/stephen-miller-national-security-adviser-candidate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Friday.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ive-never-seen-anything-like-it-stephen-miller-blasts-jb-pritzker-for-inciting-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miller</a>, who currently serves as the Trump administration&#8217;s Homeland Security adviser, is one of the few key players who has been with the president through his entire first term in office and into the second — and Axios cited five sources who suggested Miller was a likely choice to move into the position vacated by former Congressman (R-FL) and Green Beret veteran Mike Waltz.
One obvious reason for the move would be the fact that Trump trusts Miller to advance his agenda — and Axios cited one source who noted that Miller was already known within the administration for his efficiency, having ensured that the White House Homeland Security Council runs &#8220;like clockwork.&#8221; The source also noted that despite having a smaller staff, Miller&#8217;s HSC is &#8220;infinitely more effective than the NSC [National Security Council].&#8221;
Other sources noted that Miller&#8217;s ability to work well with Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who currently is doing multiple jobs within the administration including taking up the National Security Adviser role until Waltz&#8217;s permanent replacement is found — could be a key factor as well.
&#8220;Marco and Stephen have worked really closely on immigration and it might be a perfect match,&#8221; one said.
Another added, &#8220;Given how well he&#8217;s worked with Marco, many see him as the perfect person to restore the role of the NSA to a staff-level policy role that reports to the chief of staff, instead of some inflated Cabinet position.&#8221;
The speculation regarding Miller comes after President Trump delivered a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/curveball-amid-rumors-that-mike-waltz-was-fired-trump-gives-him-another-top-admin-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surprise staffing shake-up</a> on Thursday, announcing after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flurry-of-reports-claim-mike-waltz-out-as-national-security-adviser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rumors swirled</a> all day that Waltz had been fired that he instead planned to appoint the former Florida Congressman to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

Stephen Miller

Top Trump White House Aide In Running To Take Post Vacated By Mike Waltz

Marco Rubio

Trump Administration

The Trump administration shakes up its National Security Council, Senate Majority Leader John Thune lays out his plan to advance Trump’s agenda, and a new report reveals the abortion pill is much more dangerous than the FDA admits.
It’s Friday, May 2, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="National Security Shakeup &amp; Abortion Pill Dangers" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CpMXvS4RqSA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Security Leadership Shakeup</h2>
<div id="attachment_914959" style="width: 864px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914959" class="size-large wp-image-914959" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-854x576.jpg" alt="" width="854" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-854x576.jpg 854w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-1536x1036.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mike-Walz-2048x1382.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 854px) 100vw, 854px" />(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: As the Trump administration works to secure trade deals with China and end the war in Ukraine, the president announced a leadership shakeup at the White House.
On Thursday morning, numerous outlets reported that the president was firing his national security adviser, Mike Waltz. But hours later, Trump threw a major curveball, announcing that Waltz would be leaving his role as NSA, but would be nominated to serve as ambassador to the United Nations.
“From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Waltz’s nomination as UN Ambassador shocked many people, but his removal as National Security Adviser was widely expected. Waltz was responsible for accidentally adding Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to that now-infamous Signal group chat. Trump initially stood by him following the scandal, but the pressure campaign to relieve Waltz reportedly grew as some within Trump’s inner circle expressed concerns that his more hawkish views did not reflect the America First foreign policy. But the fact that he’s staying on as UN Ambassador shows the president still views him as a valuable asset.
In the short term, the president announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take over the role of National Security Adviser. A long-term replacement will likely be promoted from within the Trump administration. Some names that have been floated include Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, National Security Council Director of Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, or Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
This week, the White House announced that after months of intense negotiations, they’d officially signed a long-awaited minerals deal with Ukraine. The agreement will create a new “reconstruction investment fund” managed fifty-fifty by the two countries. Moving forward, half of all revenues from new oil, gas and mineral projects in Ukraine will go into that fund, helping to pay the U.S. back for the billions we’ve sent towards their war effort.
<h2>Morning Wire Interviews Senate Majority Leader John Thune</h2>
<div id="attachment_914961" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914961" class="size-large wp-image-914961" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Thune-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), the most powerful member of the Senate, sits down with Morning Wire.
In order to implement his America First agenda, President Trump will be heavily relying on the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan sat down with Thune this week to discuss the president’s first 100 days and how the Senate is backing Trump’s agenda.
Thune highlighted the importance of getting Trump’s cabinet nominations through the Senate quickly to enact the America First agenda, while also acknowledging the need for the legislature to pass several of the president’s proposed reforms into law.
“We confirmed his cabinet at the fastest rate in 20 years,” Thune said. “We’ve gotta start delivering on the legislative agenda, and that’s where you get into energy independence, where you get into rebuilding the military, securing the border, providing tax relief for the American people, and reducing spending and getting our country on a more sustainable fiscal path. Those are the things that we, the president campaigned on, and we need to deliver on for the American people.”
Thune also told The Daily Wire a few of his priorities for the next 100 days.
“There wasn&#8217;t a single year in the Biden administration where their commitment to the military kept up even with the rate of inflation. So we’ve fallen behind in a lot of areas. And President Trump recognizes that, recognizes that we live in a dangerous world and we’ve gotta be able to defend America and American interests. And so that’s a priority. And the border security, I would argue, is right up there with that, because that’s also, in my view, a national security issue. … On the economy, it’s getting rid of burdensome Biden regulations, extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, and then creating an energy policy that makes America energy dominant. I think those are all issues that feed into a strong economy that creates better paying jobs and, and makes the lives of Americans more prosperous.”
<h2>Study: Abortion Pill Complications Much More Common Than The FDA Claims</h2>
<div id="attachment_914963" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914963" class="size-large wp-image-914963" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Mifepristone.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />(Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The abortion pill is much more dangerous than the FDA claimed, with more than one in 10 women suffering serious complications.
In 2023, about 11.2% of women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill, according to new <a href="https://www.ffroa.com/chemical-abortion-research/">research</a> commissioned by the Foundation for the Restoration of America. That works out to about 17,310 women in 2023 alone. “Serious adverse events” can include hemorrhaging, requiring a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
Context: This is about 22x higher than what the FDA claimed on its label for Mifeprex (a brand name for mifepristone) in 2023 — the FDA <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/020687Orig1s025Lbl.pdf">cited</a> clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions.”
“If you had any other drug that was kind of similar in terms of the magnitude of what this thing does, anywhere north of 2% and they’d shut it down,” Doug Truax, founder of Foundation for the Restoration of America, told The Daily Wire. “They’re just hell bent on just increasing the amount of abortions.”
Mifepristone was originally approved by the FDA in 2000. For many years, women had to see a doctor in person to obtain the abortion pill, but a few months before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the FDA scrapped that requirement – now women can get it through the mail. This came as abortion advocates argued that the abortion pill should be more available to order online because some Republican-led states were looking to ban abortion. Medication abortions made up 63% of all abortions in 2023, up from 31% in 2014, <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-2020">according</a> to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.

MorningWire Thumbnail 5.2.25_V1

Morning Brief: Mike Waltz Lands On His Feet, Senate Fights For Trump, And Abortion Pill Dangers

Abortion

John Thune

Morning Wire

Taxes

Ukraine

Just hours after multiple outlets reported that Mike Waltz was preparing to leave his position in President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration — as National Security Adviser — Trump announced that the former Florida Congressman and Green Beret veteran was being appointed to represent the United States at the United Nations.
&#8220;I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,&#8221; Trump posted via his Truth Social platform early Thursday afternoon.
&#8220;I know he will do the same in his new role. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221; he concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/nzXuVddyM2">pic.twitter.com/nzXuVddyM2</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1918006925402255717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Waltz responded to the announcement on X:
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I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation. <a href="https://t.co/FFTPjnIYkI">pic.twitter.com/FFTPjnIYkI</a>
— Mike Waltz (@MikeWaltz47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeWaltz47/status/1918015951410237608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Democratic Party spent much of Thursday crowing over what they believed was Waltz&#8217;s ouster and clamoring for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be &#8220;next.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Good. <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteHegseth</a> next. <a href="https://t.co/OqhFhLdbk7">https://t.co/OqhFhLdbk7</a>
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDemocrats/status/1917960032181760494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin fired off his assessment within minutes of Trump&#8217;s announcement appointing Waltz to serve at the United Nations.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump&#8217;s hand-picked national security team has put millions of Americans at risk. It was past time for Mike Waltz to go. <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteHegseth</a> should be next. <a href="https://t.co/LO2Z4QDBxQ">https://t.co/LO2Z4QDBxQ</a>
— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) <a href="https://twitter.com/kenmartin73/status/1918004017579413834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump had initially selected Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pulls-stefanik-nomination-united-nations-ambassador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elise Stefanik</a> (R-NY) to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. — a role filled during the first Trump administration by former Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) — but despite reportedly having enough votes to confirm her with bipartisan support, her nomination was withdrawn in an effort to protect Republicans&#8217; very slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stefanik has since signaled that she may be considering a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-must-fire-kathy-hochul-rising-republican-star-signals-run-for-ny-governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">run for governor</a> in her home state of New York.

2024 Republican National Convention: Day 1

CURVEBALL: Amid Rumors That Mike Waltz Was Fired, Trump Gives Him Another Top Admin Post

Mike Waltz is reportedly leaving his post as National Security Adviser on Thursday, according to <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/national-security-advisor-mike-waltz-resigns?utm_source=mux&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=social-media-autopost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> from multiple <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mike-waltz-other-national-security-council-staffers-out-latest-trump-purge-following-signal-chat-leak?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=68138d4d0a593f0001991728&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlets</a> citing sources close to the matter. Waltz&#8217;s top deputy, Alex Wong, is also expected to step down.
Reports began circulating early Thursday morning that the former Florida congressman and Green Beret veteran was just one of several members of the National Security Council who were going to be replaced.
Waltz has been a target for Democrats and media outlets critical of the administration, particularly since The Atlantic&#8217;s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he&#8217;d been included in a Signal chat group with numerous Trump administration officials — and had been privy to conversations about imminent strikes on Houthi terrorists.
While Waltz took full responsibility for the breach, conceding that Goldberg had been inadvertently added to the chat from his phone, a full investigation revealed that Goldberg&#8217;s number had likely been picked up by the iPhone&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/so-damn-dangerous-signal-chat-breach-linked-to-automated-suggestion-feature-on-iphone">automated suggestion</a>&#8221; algorithm rather than any intentional move by Waltz or his staff. The administration and others who were in the chat group have maintained that no classified information was ever discussed there.
&#8220;I take full responsibility. I built the group. … It&#8217;s embarrassing. We&#8217;re going to get to the bottom of it,&#8221; Waltz told Fox News host Laura Ingraham at the time.
President Donald Trump said at the time that he did not plan to fire members of his team based on &#8220;fake news&#8221; — and thus far, there has been no confirmation from the White House of Waltz&#8217;s exit.
Journalist Mark Halperin was the first to report that Waltz was on the way out, saying early Thursday morning that Waltz&#8217;s removal could occur within 24 hours.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, are being replaced, reports <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkHalperin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkHalperin</a>, citing three good sources. Nothing is final in Trump world until it’s formally announced, says Mark. But the decision has been made. <a href="https://t.co/65wjIlh1IJ">pic.twitter.com/65wjIlh1IJ</a>
— 2WAY (@2waytvapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/2waytvapp/status/1917933048311501266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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2023 Concordia Annual Summit – September 18

Flurry Of Reports Claim Mike Waltz Out As National Security Adviser

A &#8220;really important week&#8221; in peace talks is coming up after President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-meets-with-zelensky-at-vatican-ahead-of-popes-funeral-very-productive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met</a> with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican over the weekend amid the funeral for Pope Francis, according to the Trump administration&#8217;s top diplomat.
Russia and Ukraine are &#8220;closer in general than they&#8217;ve been any time in the last three years&#8221; to reaching an end to their war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/marco-rubio-says-russia-and-ukraine-both-have-to-give-something-up-for-peace-full-interview-238424645879" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet The Press,</a>&#8221; although he conceded the two sides have not yet reached a resolution.
This past week, Rubio told moderator Kristen Welker, &#8220;has really been about figuring out how close are these sides really, and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator in this regard.&#8221;
Rubio said he thinks it would be &#8220;silly&#8221; to set a specific date for a peace agreement. &#8220;I can just tell you that almost 100 days into this presidency, the president has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy to this, and we think we brought the sides closer than they&#8217;ve been in a very long time,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;But we&#8217;re not there yet, and it needs to start happening,&#8221; Rubio continued. &#8220;We need to start — I think this is going to be a very critical week. This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it&#8217;s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not more, important in some cases, but we want to see it happen. There are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic, of course, as well. We&#8217;re close, but we&#8217;re not close enough.&#8221;
The White House said the meeting at the Vatican was &#8220;very productive,&#8221; a sign of progress after an explosive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-explodes-on-zelensky-for-making-the-worst-statement-on-the-ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confrontation</a> between Trump and Zelensky at the White House earlier this year. Trump also criticized Russia for continuing to attack Ukraine. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-putin-might-have-to-be-dealt-with-differently" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be “dealt with differently” moving forward. All that happened after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/25/steve-witkoff-moscow-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskyy-russia-ukraine-peace-plan-talks-europe-latest-updates-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> to Moscow on Friday to meet with Putin and discuss ending the war.
One major point of contention has been territory. While Zelensky <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/world/europe/ukraine-cease-fire-talks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insisted</a> that Ukraine will not &#8220;legally recognize&#8221; Russia&#8217;s occupation of Crimea, Trump <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-crimea-stay-with-russia-ukraine-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Crimea will &#8220;stay with Russia.&#8221;
In an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6371995251112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> on &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures,&#8221; National Security Advisor Mike Waltz emphasized both Russia and Ukraine need a desire to end the war for the years-long conflict to come to a close when anchor Maria Bartiromo asked him if Zelensky understands that he&#8217;s likely not going to get more land back.
&#8220;There&#8217;s been a number of discussions of territory, of what they need to make sure that this war never continues, that it is permanent,&#8221; Waltz said. &#8220;We have talked to our European partners, who you saw the images of both Starmer from the United Kingdom and Macron from France, that Europe has to step up. I know that you have ambassador Whitaker, our new NATO ambassador, who&#8217;s fantastic coming on, on talking about how the Europeans need to take the lead in the future.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;All of those things are key parts of the discussion with both Zelensky and with Putin. And next is to drive both sides to the table, but they both have to want it. And the president has expressed his frustrations in whether both sides genuinely want to end this war. But he is determined to have the United States of America and him — I will just say this: the current leader of NATO, who was here this week, said only President Trump could break the deadlock that we saw 100 days ago under the Biden administration. And he&#8217;s done just that, starting with his call with both Putin and Zelensky just a few months ago.&#8221;
Uncertainty also rests with a rare earth minerals deal between the United States and Ukraine that has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stop-the-bloodshed-trump-says-russia-and-ukraine-are-very-close-to-peace-deal">discussed</a> for months but has yet to be finalized.
The agreement is &#8220;going to get done,&#8221; Waltz said. &#8220;The negotiators were working hard over the weekend. That is first and foremost on both [Treasury] Secretary Bessent and the president&#8217;s mind. It&#8217;s going to get done, Maria. The president is determined to make it so.&#8221;

Secretary Of State Marco Rubio

Here’s Where We Stand After Trump Met With Zelensky At The Vatican

Russia

Tim Walz

U.S.

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

President Donald Trump&#8217;s counter-terrorism operation has been humming in the first three months of his second administration, taking out 74 terrorist leaders who were planning attacks on United States soil, according to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Among those neutralized in Trump&#8217;s airstrikes were terrorists from al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and ISIS. None of the 74 terrorists taken out by Trump-approved strikes were being pursued by the Biden administration, Waltz told <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/security/wedtrump-has-killed-74-leaders-terror-groups-hoping-strike-us-homeland-mike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just The News</a>. Waltz said the Biden administration&#8217;s failure to find these terrorist leaders and its lack of border security created an &#8220;incredibly dangerous&#8221; situation that the Trump administration is seeking to fix.
“I can tell you, from ISIS to al-Qaeda, to groups like Al-Shabab, all have plots and plans to hit the homeland once again, And if you look under the Biden administration, with a wide-open border, that was incredibly dangerous,” he said. “President Trump has eliminated 74 named terrorist leaders that the Biden administration wasn&#8217;t going after. You add to that 45 Americans who are being held hostage by various regimes and groups around the world that he&#8217;s brought home and that is just an incredible achievement in just a couple of months.”
In March, a top ISIS leader was killed in a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. A senior military leader of a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda was taken out in a separate strike in Syria in February, and on February 1, a U.S. Africa Command operation took out 13 high-ranking Islamic State operatives, along with an attack planner.
&#8220;Americans should sleep better at night,&#8221; Waltz added. &#8220;We&#8217;re only three months in, and look at the results President Trump is getting. The mainstream media doesn&#8217;t want to talk about those.&#8221;
Trump has also ramped up strikes against Houthi terrorists in the Middle East, vowing to protect U.S. military and commercial ships. On Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-troops-to-middle-east-to-counter-houthi-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that he was ordering more U.S. forces &#8220;equipped for combat into the Middle East to enhance the defensive capabilities available to United States forces and facilitate necessary military actions.&#8221;
The continued pressure on the Houthis — and other radical Islamic terrorists in the Middle East — comes as the Trump administration is also seeking to negotiate a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-saturdays-nuclear-talks-between-the-u-s-and-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear deal</a> with Iran, which funds the Houthis. The president is hoping to bring more stability to the Middle East after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage.

U.S. airstrikes

Trump Strikes Have Killed 74 Terrorist Leaders Planning Attacks On U.S. Soil: Mike Waltz

Al Qaeda

Houthis

Middle East

Military

Radical Islamic Terror

Terrorism

Janet Yellen, who served as Treasury Secretary in the Biden administration, faced a reality check on Monday after saying that she thought the idea of bringing manufacturing back to the United States was a &#8220;pipe dream,&#8221; dismissing one of the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">goals</a> of President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariff agenda.
Within hours of Yellen making the comment on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_rMsHQtDjM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a>, top semiconductor company Nvidia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tech-giant-commits-500-billion-to-make-ai-supercomputers-entirely-in-the-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> plans to fully build AI supercomputers in the United States and invest half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure through partnerships on American soil.
The &#8220;Trump War Room&#8221; account on X took note of the series of events.
&#8220;Just before [Nvidia]’s groundbreaking announcement to manufacture AI supercomputers in America, Janet Yellen went on CNBC to dismiss the American manufacturing renaissance as a &#8216;pipe dream,'&#8221; the account <a href="https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1911788523100815772" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;Yet, as Nvidia showed, more companies are choosing to BUILD IN THE USA — and this is just the beginning.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just before <a href="https://twitter.com/nvidia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NVIDIA</a>’s groundbreaking announcement to manufacture AI supercomputers in America, Janet Yellen went on CNBC to dismiss the American manufacturing renaissance as a &quot;pipe dream.&quot;
Yet, as Nvidia showed, more companies are choosing to BUILD IN THE USA—and this is just… <a href="https://t.co/mYfPpGeuJ9">https://t.co/mYfPpGeuJ9</a> <a href="https://t.co/c77474zjFz">pic.twitter.com/c77474zjFz</a>
&mdash; Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1911788523100815772?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The account continued, &#8220;Ironically, [Trump] posted on Truth today: &#8216;THE BEST DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE!!!&#8217;, and clearly, Yellen lacks that ability. Welcome to America’s Manufacturing Renaissance, [Yellen]!&#8221;
Yellen&#8217;s &#8220;pipe dream&#8221; assessment did not come in a vacuum.
Over the past week, media reports have featured &#8220;economic experts&#8221; <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-tariffs-entice-companies-expand-us-manufacturing-economic/story?id=120635951" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warning</a> Trump&#8217;s tariffs would not entice companies to expand U.S. manufacturing, and survey results <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/14/tariffs-wont-bring-manufacturing-back-to-us-supply-chain-survey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showing</a> most businesses say high costs would keep them from re-shoring.
However, in her interview, Yellen went further than simply stating that restoring manufacturing to the United States was unlikely. She also posited, &#8220;We could even raise questions about whether or not, in a broad-based way, that&#8217;s a desirable goal.&#8221;
On X, the &#8220;Rapid Response&#8221; account for Trump&#8217;s White House <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911758681907077131" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fired back</a>.
&#8220;The same politicians who sold American workers out to foreign countries for decades now say an American manufacturing renaissance is a &#8216;pipe dream&#8217; that isn&#8217;t even a &#8216;desirable goal,'&#8221; the account said. &#8220;1) [Trump] doesn&#8217;t accept that. 2) That attitude is how we got here. 3) They hate you.&#8221;
Mike Waltz, who serves as Trump&#8217;s national security adviser, took a swipe at the Biden administration.
&#8220;The previous administration accepted defeat and raced to off shore jobs and U.S. investment,&#8221; Waltz <a href="https://x.com/MikeWaltz47/status/1911821500530704750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. &#8220;President Trump has brought in Trillions and Trillions of dollars of foreign investment in record time!&#8221;

Janet Yellen

Yellen Gets Reality Check After Calling U.S. Manufacturing Revival A ‘Pipe Dream’

Economy

Tariffs

Trade War

The now infamous Signal chat breach — which gave Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg access to a private chat with top officials in President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration — has been linked to the &#8220;automated suggestion&#8221; feature on the iPhone used by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.
According to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/signal-group-chat-leak-how-it-happened" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Sunday by The Guardian, Waltz had intended to include his communications chief Brian Hughes — a former spokesman for Trump — but thanks to an iPhone algorithm that imports potentially &#8220;related&#8221; phone numbers into existing contacts, he also added Goldberg.
To find the connection between Goldberg and Hughes, the investigation had to go back nearly six months to October of 2024 — when Goldberg had sent an email to the Trump campaign about a story The Atlantic planned to publish attacking the president over his behavior toward wounded service members. According to The Guardian&#8217;s report, Hughes had texted then Rep. Waltz (R-FL) — who was serving as the campaign&#8217;s national security surrogate — and had included Goldberg&#8217;s contact information along with the content of his email. Waltz&#8217;s iPhone then associated the included number — Goldberg&#8217;s — with Hughes, adding it to an already saved contact.
Waltz did not contact Goldberg with regard to that story, but instead waited until after it was published and delivered a rebuttal on CNN: &#8220;Don’t take it from me, take it from the 13 Abbey Gate Gold Star families, some of whom stood on a stage in front of a 30,000 person crowd and said how he helped them heal.&#8221;
It was not until March, when Goldberg was included in the Trump &#8220;principals&#8221; group chat — where an imminent strike on Houthi terrorists was discussed in some detail — and then went public with the information, that Waltz was made aware of the mishap. At the time, he told FoxNews that the number had somehow been &#8220;sucked&#8221; into his phone.
&#8220;An iPhone suggestion to update a contact with a phone number seen inside the conversation is what led to Mike Waltz inadvertently saving an Atlantic reporter’s phone number under the name of the person he was chatting with, which was Brian Hughes,&#8221; Marina Medvin posted in reaction to the new report. &#8220;Automated suggestion on tech can be so damn dangerous.&#8221;
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An iPhone suggestion to update a contact with a phone number seen inside the conversation is what led to Mike Waltz inadvertently saving an Atlantic reporter’s phone number under the name of the person he was chatting with, which was Brian Hughes.
Automated suggestion on tech… <a href="https://t.co/pRZPLPqMRk">pic.twitter.com/pRZPLPqMRk</a>
&mdash; Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1908904288778060076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Referencing Waltz&#8217;s initial claim — that Goldberg&#8217;s number had been inadvertently saved under someone else&#8217;s name — The Daily Wire&#8217;s Brent Scher weighed in as well. &#8220;So it really did get sucked into Mike Waltz phone… According to @guardian, the WH forensic report says Brian Hughes, who runs Waltz comms, sent Goldberg’s contact last Oct to push back on a campaign story. Apple added the number under Hughes as a &#8216;contact suggestion update.'&#8221;
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So it really did get sucked into Mike Waltz phone…
According to <a href="https://twitter.com/guardian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@guardian</a>, the WH forensic report says Brian Hughes, who runs Waltz comms, sent Goldberg’s contact last Oct to push back on a campaign story. Apple added the number under Hughes as a “contact suggestion update.” <a href="https://t.co/688DXYiEZl">pic.twitter.com/688DXYiEZl</a>
&mdash; Brent Scher (@BrentScher) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentScher/status/1908895526977667549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Throughout, Goldberg has stated that he knows Waltz and has spoken with him — a claim that Waltz has repeatedly denied, and that the Guardian reported was neither confirmed nor ruled out by the investigation into how his number got into the Signal chat.

‘So Damn Dangerous’: Signal Chat Breach Linked To ‘Automated Suggestion’ Feature On iPhone

'So Damn Dangerous': Signal Chat Breach Linked To 'Automated Suggestion' Feature On iPhone

Signal

The Atlantic

WASHINGTON — Up to ten officials from President Donald Trump&#8217;s National Security Council were fired following a White House visit from activist journalist Laura Loomer, who reportedly presented opposition research on several White House staffers to the president.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/03/trump-laura-loomer-fire-national-security-council">first reported the firings</a> on Thursday, suggesting that the firings were linked to Loomer&#8217;s Wednesday visit to the Oval Office in which she reportedly presented Trump with research on National Security staff and pressed Trump to fire specific individuals. A source familiar with the meeting told Axios that that the firings were &#8220;being labeled as an anti-neocon move.&#8221;
Trump confirmed the personnel moves to reporters aboard Air Force One, but didn&#8217;t directly credit Loomer for them.
“We’re always going to let go of people — people we don’t like or people that take advantage of or people that may have loyalties to someone else,&#8221; Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“Laura Loomer is a great patriot. She’s a very strong person,&#8221; Trump said, when asked about the activist reporter. “She makes recommendations and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations. I listen to everybody and then I make a decision. She always has something to say and it’s usually constructive &#8230; She recommended some people for jobs.”
That official told Axios that Loomer was angry that &#8220;neocons&#8221; had &#8220;slipped through&#8221; the Trump administration&#8217;s vetting process, saying: &#8220;She went to the White House yesterday and presented them with her research and evidence.&#8221; The official also said that three senior NSC members had been fired, and as many as ten staff members had been fired total, warning that it was looking like a &#8220;bloodbath.&#8221;
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/03/politics/nsc-firings-trump-laura-loomer-meeting/index.html">reported Thursday</a> that three of those fired are Brian Walsh, Thomas Boodry, and David Feith. Walsh was director for intelligence and a former staffer for Marco Rubio. Boodry was a senior director for legislative affairs who formerly served as Mike Waltz&#8217;s legislative director in Congress. Feith was a senior director overseeing technology and national security matters who had previously served in the State Department under the first Trump administration.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and director of the Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor also took part in the meeting, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-waltz-laura-loomer-national-security-council-959b718b04b240c5c8ba3736b4d8aa62">the Associated Press reported</a>. Axios reported that Loomer did not believe the staff she presented to Trump were sufficiently loyal to his agenda.
NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on the firings, telling The Daily Wire that the NSC does not comment on personnel matters.
<div id="attachment_902761" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-ig-to-investigate-pete-hegseths-signal-use/president-trump-meets-with-nato-secretary-general-mark-rutte-in-the-oval-office-of-the-white-house-3" rel="attachment wp-att-902761"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902761" class="wp-image-902761 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2204329121-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2204329121-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2204329121-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2204329121-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2204329121.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Loomer did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but in a <a href="https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1907820422902448173">post on X</a> on Thursday morning, she accused &#8220;people in and around the West Wing&#8221; of leaking to the &#8220;hostile, left-wing media&#8221; about Trump&#8217;s private meetings in the Oval Office.
&#8220;I want to reiterate how important it is that people who gain access to the White House or the administration respect the privacy of their conversations with President Trump and his senior staff,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Out of respect for President <a class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1loqt21" dir="ltr" role="link" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> and the privacy of the Oval Office, I’m going to decline on divulging any details about my Oval Office meeting with President Trump.&#8221;
&#8220;It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security.&#8221;
Per the president&#8217;s travel pool, Waltz, Wiles, Gor, and a few other senior officials accompanied Trump to Florida.

(Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)

Multiple National Security Council Staffers Fired After Laura Loomer White House Visit

Pete Hegseth

The &#8220;case has been closed&#8221; at the White House after the high-profile leak of a Signal group chat in which leading Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Monday.
Leavitt also indicated that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who has taken responsibility for the breach, will stay on the job.
&#8220;As the president has made it very clear — Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team and this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned,&#8221; Leavitt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXWhrp20VKg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the Signal group chat:
&quot;As the president has made it very clear &#8212; Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team. This case has been closed here at the White House.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/Hz9Ow3YTEj">pic.twitter.com/Hz9Ow3YTEj</a>
&mdash; The American Conservative (@amconmag) <a href="https://twitter.com/amconmag/status/1906766213209878693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Since The Atlantic&#8217;s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke</a> the news last week that he was added to the Signal chat and revealed its contents, some have called for Waltz to resign or be fired. Waltz <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg12ewv7xyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News that he took &#8220;full responsibility&#8221; for the breach in which Goldberg was added to the chat because he built the Signal group. President Donald Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1904615849450971537" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> reporters that Waltz was a &#8220;good man&#8221; and &#8220;would continue to do a good job.&#8221;
The controversy that stemmed from the breach, which has become known as &#8220;Signalgate,&#8221; has embroiled other top members of the Trump administration who took part in the thread. One of those officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has also faced calls to resign over the information he shared in the conversation. Some lawmakers have <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/press-releases/chairman-wicker-ranking-member-reed-request-inspector-general-probe-into-signal-incident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> for an investigation by the Pentagon&#8217;s inspector general. Hegseth has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-fires-back-at-the-media-over-signalgate-reporting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his &#8220;job&#8221; was to &#8220;provide updates in real-time, general updates in real-time, keep everybody informed.&#8221;
In a post on X last week, Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904512527699968437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that no classified material was included in the thread and warned that Goldberg &#8220;is well-known for his sensationalist spin.&#8221; She also rejected Goldberg&#8217;s characterization that &#8220;war plans&#8221; were discussed, affirmed that the National Security Council was &#8220;looking into how Goldberg&#8217;s number was inadvertently added to the thread,&#8221; and noted that the White House Counsel&#8217;s Office had provided guidance on communications across different platforms.
On Monday, Leavitt said there have been &#8220;steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again and we&#8217;re moving forward and the president and Mike Waltz and his entire National Security team have been working together very well if you look at how much safer the United States of America is because of the leadership of this team.&#8221;

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz

‘This Case Has Been Closed’: White House Shuts Book On Signalgate, Stands By Mike Waltz

White House: Signalgate 'Case Has Been Closed,' Stands By Mike Waltz

Karoline Leavitt

Scandals

White House

Yemen

On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, the execrable editor of The Atlantic, dropped a bombshell story. Goldberg is basically a stand-in for Barack Obama&#8217;s foreign policy team.
He broke the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">story</a> that he was accidentally included in a Signal chat that was basically comprised of every top member of Team Trump in the national security sphere, ranging from the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, to Vice President of the United States JD Vance, to Stephen Miller, a top adviser to President Trump.
They were all in a Signal chat discussing the upcoming military strike on the Houthis. Waltz accidentally included Goldberg in this Signal chat.
What exactly happened here? The answer is almost certainly that Waltz meant to include the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Signal is an encrypted messaging service that is basically supposed to be uncrackable by outside sources. When using Signal — as I myself do — you can choose how your name appears in its identity line. You can either pick your full name or your initials.
My assumption is that Jamieson Greer opted to use his initials, “JG,” and that whoever put together the group selected Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic instead.
This does not mean, as so many folks who do not like Mike Waltz surmise, that he was regularly chatting with Goldberg. It just means that Goldberg was in a list of contacts that included Greer, both of them used their initials “JG,” and he selected the wrong one.
Obviously, the biggest issue is the leak itself. How did this happen?
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2165-member-exclusive">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
President Trump was asked about this yesterday, and said, “I don&#8217;t know anything about it. I&#8217;m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it&#8217;s a magazine that&#8217;s going out of business. I think it&#8217;s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.” When told the chat was discussing the attack on the Houthis, Trump <a href="https://x.com/yashar/status/1904250234236289151">replied</a>, “The Houthis? You mean the attack on the Houthis? Well, it couldn&#8217;t have been very effective because the [U.S.] attack was very effective. I can tell you that.”
When Hegseth was asked about this, he <a href="https://x.com/DODResponse/status/1904311661629964334" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tore into</a> The Atlantic as well: “So you&#8217;re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who&#8217;s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again, to include the, I don&#8217;t know, the hoaxes of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ or the ‘fine people on both sides’ hoax or ‘it&#8217;s suckers and losers’ hoax. This is a guy who peddles in garbage.”
I&#8217;m on board. I think The Atlantic, particularly Goldberg, is not a good representative of the journalistic institution. He was basically a stenographer for Barack Obama. But it was confirmed that the Signal chat involved all these players, and the story was real.
That raises a couple of questions. One is legal. There are people who are attempting to claim that this was somehow violative of criminal law, that this was a breach of Official Records Acts because an auto-delete function can be activated in Signal chats.
The use of terms in The Atlantic piece such as “high side” suggests that there was an entire other thread that was going on inside these sort of classified government rooms. That was preserved. So, there&#8217;s that.
Second, the president of the United States has the ability to simply declassify whatever he wants. So the idea that this is some violation of law is overstated. Is it a scandal? Sure, it&#8217;s a scandal when there&#8217;s a screwup this big. If you accidentally include a journalist in a high-ranking discussion about the precise location of a bombing, that is a major problem, of course. It is a breach of security.
But I am not willing to hear such claims from people on the Democratic side of the aisle who were perfectly fine with the Hillary Clinton email issue. This is one of the lines that the Left is hammering: “You guys, you fussed all about Hillary Clinton and her emails and keeping those on her own private server.”
First, we should recognize that what Hillary Clinton did and what happened here (inviting a journalist into a group chat) are both quite bad. Obviously, that involves high-ranking discussions of national security matters that are classified. That is a giant booboo.
As much as I despise Goldberg as a human being, I think he actually did the responsible thing in not printing, for example, operational details or blowing the operation beforehand, which he certainly could have done.
With that said, the reason that everyone is so casual about the use of classified material these days is because of the original sin of James Comey not prosecuting Hillary Clinton over her emails. That set up an entire permission structure for people to mishandle classified materials — unless you’re a Republican.
That is the way this works. If Hillary Clinton uses classified materials, and she puts them on a private server — which Comey of the FBI openly acknowledged was likely accessed by foreign sources — and no prosecution attends, how can that rule apply to anybody else?
This is why it was so ridiculous when they tried to go after Trump for the mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago at the same exact time that Joe Biden had classified documents in his garage.
This issue is largely played out, in the sense that while something can be a giant screwup, nobody takes it as a criminal-level screwup at this point. That was laid to rest in 2015 and 2016 by the operation to let Clinton off the hook back for her email scandal.
When the Left says, “We&#8217;ve now heard the end about her emails,” the reality is, “But her emails,” was the inciting event for an entire string of mishandling of classified materials on both sides of the aisle.
Some Democrats say this could have cost lives. As it stands, that is hypothetical and did not happen in reality. A giant screwup is not quite the same thing as an intentional move to endanger human life on the American side of the aisle.
It&#8217;s also worth noting that many of the same people who are very upset with this particular situation would have been perfectly happy if the war plan had been leaked by a Trump administration insider and printed on the front page of The New York Times — which happened all the time in the first Trump administration.
What is interesting is the mobilization on one side of the Republican aisle against Waltz in particular, because there are really two issues that are of note with regard to this leak.
One is the leak itself, which obviously is deeply noteworthy. And the administration should make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
But then, there is the second issue, which is what was actually said in the leak. I have noticed that the partisans of Vance are saying that the real story is the leak, while partisans of Waltz are saying that the real story is what was said in the chat.
The answer is both. Both of these things are actual real stories, and neither should be obscured.
People who are fans of the vice president are shifting the focus away from what Vance actually said in the chat, which is another fascinating aspect to this.
This is a window into the open foreign policy debates happening inside the Trump administration. Trump says we are going to reopen freedom of trade and freedom of the seas. We&#8217;re going to strike the Houthis; we&#8217;re not going to be cowards as the Biden administration was.
A consequential discussion ensues in the chat: part of the administration says we need to go punch the Houthis in the mouth, but Vance says we should not punch the Houthis in the mouth and then puts forward a pretty milquetoast delay tactic. Vance posited an open disagreement with President Trump: “I&#8217;m not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.”
It isn’t. Striking the Houthis is not inconsistent with his messaging on Europe.
By the way, the argument that only 3% of U.S. trade runs through the Suez but 40% of European trade does and thus it doesn&#8217;t matter for the United States if trade moves through the Suez Canal is incredibly silly because trade is intertwined. If the price of goods drastically goes up in Europe, then the price of goods in the United States will go up as well — because we trade with Europe.
Vance’s remarks bespeak an entirely different geopolitical strategy than what the Trump administration as a whole has been promoting. When looking past the leak issue to the actual content, Waltz, Hegseth, and Miller reflect the priorities of the president of the United States.
But Vance? Not so much. When he says, “This is really about cramming it down on the Europeans, so why don&#8217;t the Europeans do it,” he knows full well that the Europeans are not capable of taking on the Houthis. He also understands how global trade works.
This really suggests that the vice president has a very different view of foreign policy from Trump’s, a view that he expressed pretty clearly before he was vice president when he said he didn&#8217;t care whether Russia took Ukraine. That is certainly a view that bespeaks of foreign policy and spheres of influence — essentially, that Russia should have its own sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, stretching all the way down into the Middle East, and that the United States should basically remove itself from the world, which may or may not mean a broader sphere of influence for the Chinese.
Vance has a very different foreign policy than the Trump foreign policy. That&#8217;s just reality.
When he makes statements that openly conflict with the President of the United States’ statements, that is another side to this story.
There are two dueling narratives, and it will be interesting to see how it shakes down inside the administration.

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