The Signal App Flap Smoke Screen – Top 3 Takeaways – March 26th, 2025
Takeaway #1: The truth is in there somewhere
Were they “war plans”? No. Was the Atlantic story a “nothingburger”. No. Was the mistake intentional. No. In this week’s much discussed mistake it’s now become rather clear what took place. Mike Waltz’s National Security team managed to add the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, ironically one of the Trump administration's biggest journalistic adversaries, to a Signal thread in the lead up to a military attack on Iranian-sponsored Houthi terrorists on March 15th. Earlier this week Goldberg decided to come forward with the leak – which is interesting given the timing. Why, for example, would he wait for well over a week before coming forward with this story on the guy was truly on the level and interested in acting in our country’s best interests? This is the first question that should be asked but that has yet to be asked. There is only one viable reason. He was waiting to see if he would be included in any other threads before coming public with what he saw on the one he was included on March 15th. Goldberg wasn’t a patriot as some in news media claim, he certainly isn’t a hero. He was what he’s always been. A self-serving anti-Trump journo turd who only came public when it became clear that he’d not be included in any additional internal communications. Let’s be clear about something. If this guy was truly a patriot who was most concerned with the interests of this country and the security of the military, he would have immediately and discretely handled this directly with the Trump administration as opposed to first announcing this took place on in the Atlantic on Monday. The fact that he wasn’t included in any other communications between March 15th and this past Monday is also another indication that this was a mistake by a Waltz staffer and not something intentionally done to attempt to undermine the Trump administration. More about that one in a moment. Now as for team Trump’s contention that “no war plans were shared” and the material “wasn’t classified”.
Takeaway #2: The first part isn’t entirely true, and the second part is sleight of hand.
From the fully leaked Signal thread posted by Goldberg on Wednesday: TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package) 1345: “Trigger Based” F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s) 1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package) 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier “Trigger Based” targets) 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched. Calling those “war plans” is overstated. For multiple reasons. The actual locations of the strikes are never mentioned, the names of the targets are never mentioned. There’s never been a “war plan” perpetuated that didn’t include where attacks would take place, and an objective stated. What this clearly was, was an operational update. But while not “war plans”, it’s obviously information that if it’d fallen into the enemy’s hands ahead time could certainly have compromised the mission or worse. So, for the administration to say that this was basically a nothingburger is understating the situation about as much as Goldberg is overstating the situation. As for the classified information piece being sleight of hand... Look there’s little doubt that preoperational details about a specific military operation were classified at some level. They weren’t classified at the point where the president of the United States said that they weren’t. Trump had the right to declassify the details and when he said they weren’t classified... they weren’t. And here’s the next thing and it’s an important thing. Yes, the Biden administration put out guidance that use of the Signal app was a best practice for use by government officials.
Takeaway #3: Biden’s Best Practices
That doesn’t mean that it’s inherently a good thing for government officials to use. How many Biden administration determined best practices would you expect the Trump administration to use? If anything, that should be the first clue that the Signal app wasn’t a good idea to use. The bottom line is this. If only governmental communication services were being used, a mistake like what happened here wouldn’t even be possible to do. The only people that would be able to be included in a sensitive communication chain would be those already authorized in the government chain. That’s one of many potential problems that can crop up with a third-party app that anyone can use. So, about Mike Waltz’s team and whether this was an intentional leak. I’m not sure who the staffer was who set up the thread chain that included Jeffrey Goldberg’s name. But I have known Mike Waltz for a number of years. I’ve interacted with his team for a number of years. They’re all first-class people. Mike is a retired Army Colonel and a decorated Green Beret. He is an American patriot and has always had a team to match. There’s no way he would surround himself with people in his role as National Security Advisor that wouldn’t have his and our country’s back. This was a mistake. Thankfully the mission succeeded unimpeded and there’s a very important lesson to be learned that both President Trump and Director Waltz have acknowledged has been learned. That’s the takeaway and really the end of this story but it won’t be because a lawsuit has been filed against the Trump administration for having had a national security conversation outside of official channels. The case has been assigned to one Judge James Boasberg – the same judge who ruled against Trump’s deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act. As a result, this is a mistake that isn’t likely to just go away.