Trump not planning to fire Waltz after national security text chain leak

President Donald Trump is not planning to fire national security advisor Mike Waltz in the wake of The Atlantic's reporting of an apparent national security breach, Fox News has learned.

"He’s not getting fired," Trump told Fox News. The president said the incident was a "mistake," though there was "nothing important" in the Signal text thread. 

The president described Waltz as a "good guy" and added that the "attack was a success," referring to the U.S. operation against the Houthis in Yemen that was discussed on the text chain between senior Cabinet officials. 

A source close to the president previously told Fox News that Waltz's job is safe and that he is not on the chopping block. 

Fox News is told Waltz has no plans to resign and is sticking to his schedule Tuesday. He will be talking to his Russian counterpart about a Black Sea ceasefire deal and has plans to speak to Trump as usual later Tuesday.

Waltz is also telling colleagues that he has never met or talked to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, Fox News has learned.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a new statement on Tuesday. The National Security Council earlier said The Atlantic's report referenced what appeared to be an "authentic message chain." 

"Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin," Leavitt wrote, before offering three "facts about his latest story." Leavitt said no "war plans" were discussed, no classified material was sent to the thread and that the White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for the president's top officials to communicate "as safely and efficiently as possible." 

"As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread," Leavitt said. "Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump." 

A senior White House official earlier revealed to Fox News how Goldberg may have been added to the Signal text chain with Cabinet members.

The official said that he had never met and had never spoken to Goldberg. Somehow, Goldberg’s number was added to one of the members of the list, the senior official said, noting that Signal is allowed in multiple agencies. 

It appears that Goldberg's number was added to a contact card by one of the Trump administration staffers, Fox News has learned. The chat had Cabinet officials plus some of those officials' staffers.

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Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are calling for Waltz's ouster over the breach. 

"This is an outrageous national security breach and heads should roll. We need a full investigation and hearing into this on the House Armed Services Committee, ASAP," Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., wrote on X. 

"We can't chalk this up to a simple mistake — people should be fired for this," Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., told Axios. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted The Atlantic article, telling reporters on Monday that "nobody was texting war plans." 

Hegseth billed Goldberg as a "deceitful and highly discredited journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again." 

Goldberg appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday morning to discuss the contents of the text chain. The reporter said Vice President JD Vance "asserted his disagreement" with Trump in front of other Cabinet members believed to be on the text chain and "articulated a view that the president didn’t understand the consequences or stakes." 

"I think it's notable that the vice president of the United States is telling members of the Cabinet that I don't think the president understands," Goldberg said. "I just think it's noteworthy, just my journalistic perspective, that the vice president is, is being so, so blunt about that. But it's a very it's a substantive policy disagreement on some levels." 

A person on the chat labeled "SM," believed to be Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, pushed back in the chat and the conversation seemed to defer to the president's ultimate judgment. 

Goldberg further categorized the chat as "obviously very focused on getting Europe to pay for the strikes on the Houthis and a lot of resentment directed at Europe for not having the capacity to defend shipping lanes that are affected by the Houthis."

Goldberg made the point to MSNBC that lower levels of the armed forces must adhere to cybersecurity and social media rules. 

"And you can go to jail," Goldberg said. "You can go to Leavenworth for mishandling what we would consider to be minor classified information." 

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He also defended The Atlantic, as administration officials have categorized it as a failing publication. 

"We're a profitable magazine. We have more than 1.2 million paid subscribers. We have tremendous web traffic. And we are completely self-funded at this point. It's going really great," Goldberg said.