After a journalist was accidentally added to a Trump administration group chat earlier this month, outrage has not only been sparked over security concerns but also ‘sickening’ emojis.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed at the beginning of the week that he had been added to a top-secret messaging chain by Mike Waltz where US military plans were discussed.
The National Security Advisor has now taken ‘full responsibility’ for the blunder and claims he didn’t see the ‘loser’ journalist in the group.
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Goldberg didn’t think it was ‘real’ at first that he’d been added to the ‘Houthi PC small group’ but ‘then the bombs started falling’.
With the chat taking place on open-source encrypted messaging service Signal, the journalist says it contained communication over military plans about airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, ‘including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying and attack sequencing’.
His report included screenshots of various messages between senior officials including Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He says Hegseth shared the plan at 11.44am ET on 15 March, two hours before bombs began dropping on Yemen and as the news broke, Goldberg checked the chat again.
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The journalist says he found a series of emojis and congratulations messages, with Waltz saying they had done an 'amazing job' before sending a fist, an American flag and flame.
Another sent high five/prayer, strong arm and flag emojis and when Hegseth initially sent the plans, Vance said: “I will say a prayer for victory.”
This was then followed by users sending the prayer/high five emoji.
Users on X called the use of these emojis ‘sickening’ as they say it’s ‘infantilised politics’.
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“Mike Waltz using emojis in a National Security/War strategy group chat like he’s a 14yr old…” another wrote.
Many found it to be a ‘disrespectful’ response in the wake of airstrikes as people called it ‘embarrassing and scary’.
One wrote: “Folks, our foreign affairs are being managed by adolescent morons. They spent a lot of their time texting of their ‘loathing of Europe’.”
After one anonymous official referred to Waltz as a 'f**king idiot' in a statement to Politico, he released a statement taking 'full responsibility'.
“We made a mistake. We’re moving forward,” the former Army Special Forces officer told Fox News.
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He said of Goldberg: "I can tell you for 100% I don't know this guy. I know him in the sense that he hates the president, but I don't text him. He wasn't on my phone. And we're going to figure out how this happened."
Trump had initially claimed to not ‘know anything about it’ when the journalist's claims came to light on Monday (24 March) and has now surprisingly come out in defence of Waltz.
The President called him a ‘good man’ in a statement as he told NBC News: “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.” He didn’t however quite clarify what that lesson is.
Trump went on to describe the incident as a 'glitch', adding that The Atlantic's report had 'no impact at all' on the military operation in Yemen.
Topics: Politics, Donald Trump, US News
Jess Battison