Trump dismisses firing rumors amid US classified leak controversy as "minor flaw... Waltz is a good person"

NBC News Interview
"Not a Serious Defect... No Impact on Military Operation"

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed unwavering trust in Michael Waltz, the White House National Security Advisor who is embroiled in a dismissal controversy for accidentally leaking military secrets related to the airstrike on Yemen's Houthi rebels to the media, dismissing prospects of his removal.

Getty Images Yonhap News

On the 25th (local time), President Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News, "Michael Waltz has learned his lesson and he is a good person."

He described the issue as a "small glitch" and said that editor Goldberg's participation in the chat room had "no impact whatsoever" on the military operation.

President Trump's remarks on this day were the first related comments since the U.S. military secrets leak was reported in the media. Earlier, officials in the Trump administration's diplomatic and security line shared sensitive military secrets such as the airstrike on the Houthi rebels through 'Signal,' a messaging application commonly used by the general public. In this process, Advisor Waltz accidentally invited Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of the current affairs weekly The Atlantic, to the group chat, which led to classified information being leaked externally in real time.

Regarding how the media reporter was invited to the chat room, President Trump explained, "One of Michael's people did that on the phone," adding, "The advisor put that number in there (the chat room)."

He emphasized that since his inauguration on January 20, this incident was the "only glitch" in two months and turned out to be "not even a serious defect."