Donald Trump’s first reaction on accidental war plan leak: ‘Michael Waltz has learned a lesson’

In his first reaction to the accidental war plan leak before the strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, United States President Donald Trump called the attack “very effective” but mostly avoided commenting on the security breach.

Regarding Mike Waltz, who had invited The Atlantic journalist to the Signal group discussing the US strike plan, Trump said that Waltz has “learned a lesson”.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Donald Trump said, “I do not know anything about it. I am not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it's a magazine that is going out of business, and I don't know anything about it.”

“It couldn't have been very effective as the attack [on Houthis] was very effective. You are telling me about it for the first time; I do not know anything about it,” Donald Trump said.

Standing by his national security adviser, Donald Trump called Mike Waltz a “good man” and said that he has “learned his lesson”.

What Donald Trump said on Yemen war plan leak: Watch video

War plan leak: The context

Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said on Monday, March 24, that he was added to a Signal group called the “Houthi PC small group” by a user named Mike Waltz, the national security advisor in Donald Trump's Cabinet.

Over the next few hours, Goldberg knew the highly sensitive US plan to target Houthis in Yemen.

The group had 18 members. They identified themselves as senior American officials, including Vice President JD Vance, United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

On March 14, Jeffrey Goldberg found himself in the middle of the top officials planning a strike against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Later, after the strikes, the top officials congratulated each other and cheered using emojis.

“I knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing," Goldberg said in his article.