Following an internal probe, The White House has uncovered a probable explanation for the inclusion of Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a Signal chat populated by Trump officials discussing plans to bomb the Houthis. The Guardian has reported that the root of the issue lies in National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s lack of understanding regarding his iPhone’s functionality.
It appears that after Goldberg reached out to the Trump campaign regarding a separate matter in 2024, Brian Hughes, a Trump spokesperson, shared Goldberg’s contact details and email signature with Waltz. According to The Guardian, a few inadvertent taps set the stage for what has been dubbed «Signalgate»:
«Waltz did not ultimately call Goldberg,» sources revealed, «but in a surprising turn of events, he accidentally saved Goldberg’s number in his iPhone – under the contact information for Hughes, who is now the spokesperson for the national security council.»
It seems that Waltz mistakenly believed he was adding Hughes to the group chat instead of Goldberg, as he was unaware that his iPhone was updating an existing contact rather than creating a new one. While this explanation does not alter the concerning nature of the discussions taking place in the «Houthi PC small group» on an encrypted messaging platform without Congressional oversight, it does introduce an element of unfortunate ignorance to the situation.
Shortly after the Signalgate incident, the Pentagon cautioned against using Signal due to its susceptibility to Russian phishing attacks. However, it is evident that the Trump administration values the app’s security features and real-time communication capabilities. Despite the availability of a more secure alternative, reports indicate that Waltz continues to utilize Gmail.
This article was originally published on Engadget at .
FUENTE