Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — 'This is what happens when you have basically Fox News personalities cosplaying as government officials'

(Image credit: Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump downplayed the seriousness of his top national security officials discussing operational details of an imminent military strike on Yemen in a Signal group text chat, calling it a "glitch" that "turned out not to be a serious one." Democrats disagreed and called for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down.

Who said what

"I take full responsibility" for building the unsecured group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Waltz said on Fox News Tuesday night. "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it." Trump said he would not fire Waltz, calling him "a good man" who "has learned a lesson," and told reporters "there was no classified information, as I understand it."

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe similarly said in a Senate hearing Tuesday that no classified information was shared in the group chat, "bewildering Democrats and former U.S. officials, who regard that kind of targeting information as some of the most closely-held material ahead of a U.S. military campaign," Reuters said. But the intelligence chiefs also "shifted the spotlight back" to Hegseth, who shared the Yemen attack details, saying he "would be the one to determine what defense information is classified."

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It's "total amateur hour," Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) told podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen. "This is what happens when you have basically Fox News personalities cosplaying as government officials."

What next?

At least four Senate Democrats called for Hegseth to resign and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged Trump to fire him. Some GOP lawmakers "called for an investigation," The New York Times said, but "most have shied away from criticizing" Trump's team or "calling on any officials to step down."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.