Mike Waltz claims he has ‘never met’ Atlantic editor

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz spoke to the press this afternoon for the first time since the Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg described how Waltz had inadvertently added him to a Signal groupchat in which air strikes on Yemen were planned. Waltz claimed that he’d “never met, don’t know, never communicated with” Goldberg. The only problem: Goldberg says in his report that the pair has met before. So who’s lying?

The Atlantic reported Monday how Goldberg was granted access to “precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing” from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, two hours before the US attack on Yemen targets on March 15.

“There are a lot of lessons,” Waltz told the press while meeting with President Donald Trump and US ambassadors.

“There are a lot of journalists in this city who have made big names for themselves, making up lies about this President,” he began his comments.

Waltz said Goldberg “wants the world talking about more hoaxes and this kind of nuance rather than the freedom that [Trump] is enabling” and said the administration is “looking into and reviewing how the heck he got in this room.”

After calling Goldberg a “sleazebag,” President Trump focused on the “unbelievable success” of the attack on Yemen.

He also shared that if it were possible, he would prefer to only hold such meetings in person and in rooms with solid lead walls, but they will be considering the most secure and practical forms of communication going forward.

“I don’t think he should apologize, I think he’s doing his best,” Trump said. “It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect.”

Later in the meeting, Trump was asked by reporters if he agrees with the assessment of a message Secretary Hegseth sent to Vice President J.D. Vance in that chat, saying, “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”

“Uhh, do you really want me to answer that?” Trump said. “Yeah, I think they’ve been free-loading. The European Union has been absolutely terrible to us on trade.”

He said that he doesn’t blame NATO or the EU for slacking on their responsibilities, including funding NATO and Ukraine, but blames President Biden for going soft on them. He then reemphasized the upcoming “Liberation Day” on April 2, where he is set to sign in “very fair” tariffs for “countries that have really abused us economically for many, many decades.”