'Mistake of epic proportions': Trump allies making national security adviser 'the fall guy'

27 March

As the so-called "Signalgate" scandal continues to dominate news coverage in the U.S., many Democrats are calling for President Donald Trump to fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump, however, is defending Hegseth and appears to be sticking by him.

But some Trump allies, according to NBC News, have someone else in mind as a possible "fall guy": Defense Secretary Michael Waltz.

The scandal ignited on Monday, March 24, when The Atlantic published a bombshell article by editor Jeffrey Goldberg headlined "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans." Goldberg revealed that Waltz had mistakenly invited him to a group chat on Trump's plans for a military operation attacking Houthis in Yemen.

Trump himself, who isn't fond of using either e-mail or text messaging, did not participate in the chat — which took place via the messaging app Signal. But top officials in his administration did, including Waltz, Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

Before Goldberg's article was published, Waltz and the others had no idea that he had access to the chat.

Some Trump allies are trying to downplay the severity of the scandal by attacking Goldberg — a line of attack that many Democrats are calling out as a ridiculous kill-the-messenger effort, noting that the Atlantic editor never asked to be invited to the Signal group chat. But Waltz said that he takes "full responsibility" for the security breech.

In an article published on March 26, NBC News reporters Jonathan Allen, Matt Dixon and Katherine Doyle detail efforts by some Trump allies to make Waltz the "fall guy."

A former Trump adviser, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told NBC News, "We are talking about a political problem right now…. They need to put this on someone and clean it up that way. The most obvious person to do that with is Waltz."

A current Trump adviser, also quoted anonymously, told NBC News, "This is serious, and it can't just be sloughed off. Any honorable public servant would see that and recognize that they've made a mistake of serious proportions, and a lesson needs to be learned from it…. I can assure you, if that were me, I would have resigned."

In a March 26 video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy, a major Trump supporter, described "Signalgate" as a "f----- of epic proportions" and said, "Trump, you may love Michael Waltz. You love Pete Hegseth. You may love these guys. Somebody has to go down."

Read the full NBC News article at this link.

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