Jeffrey Goldberg Jokes He Expected to Be Pitched ‘Oil Shares’ Scam by Fake ‘Mike Waltz’ After Being Added to Trump Team Group Chat
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg joked with the Morning Joe crew that he expected to be pitched an “oil shares” scam by a fake “Mike Waltz” after being added to the Trump team’s private Houthi strike group chat — and before discovering the discussion was very real.
Goldberg revealed in a bombshell report on Monday how he had been added into a Signal group chat over the weekend where senior Trump administration officials were planning strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen – discussing targets, weapons, and timing.
Appearing on MSNBC on Tuesday morning to discuss the incident and the fallout, host Joe Scarborough pressed Goldberg on his reaction to being inadvertently added to the chat by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
“It’s one of those things where you just get a message request on, on a, on a messaging app and you say, yeah, sure, message me. And then the next thing you know, you’re part of the ‘PC Houthi small group’ messaging group on on Signal with [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio and [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth and the head of the CIA and [director of national intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard and all the rest – happens all the time,” mused Goldberg.
Scarborough noted that Goldberg said he felt it was a “scam at first” and that someone was trying to set him up. The Atlantic journalist agreed, noting how it became quickly obvious when the text chain started sharing details of the upcoming strikes: “Then the attack commences and I’m like, all right, well, that’s a real signal group!”
More on the Trump Admin War Plan Leak:
- Trump Dismisses Bombshell War Plans Leak as a ‘Glitch,’ Goes to Bat for NSA Mike Waltz: He ‘Learned His Lesson’
- Wall Street Journal Calls Out JD Vance for Trying to ‘Block’ Trump’s Strikes on Houthis: ‘Mr. Trump Now Knows’
- Fox’s Peter Doocy Mocks Trump Admin Over Cabinet Group Chat: ‘Well, They Did Promise to Be the Most Transparent White House Ever’
- ‘That’s A Lie!’ Jeffrey Goldberg Smacks Down Hegseth Denial Over Blockbuster Leak
- Fox’s Lawrence Jones Makes Excuse for Sharing ‘Top Secret’ War Plans on Signal: ‘They All Use It’
- CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Destroys Trump Admin Over Bombshell Leak — With Brutal Cuts of Their Own Words
Asked whether he knew Waltz before being added into the chat, Goldberg said he had only personally met with the national security advisor twice in his life, which only served to support his initial suspicion that the chat was a ruse:
Well, you know, there’s the surface of what we understand in Washington about journalism and our relationship with the Trump administration. And then there’s the actual conversations that take place.
I would say that, I don’t know, Mike Waltz. I think I’ve met him twice. I think I met him at a conference or a party at a conference like a couple of years ago, and then maybe when he got to congress, but 4 or 5 years ago, I don’t know him.
I was happy, obviously, that Mike Waltz reached out. I instantly thought, like we all do these days, well, if it is actually Mike Waltz who’s reaching out, there’s no harm in accepting a message request. All you do is get the message, and then you could see if he’s trying to sell you, you know, oil shares or says that you’re, you know, you’re late on your whatever, you know, whatever scam is being run. But it struck me as somewhat unusual because we all, and I in particular, have a somewhat contentious relationship with some people in the Trump administration, namely Trump. And so it’s a little bit odd.
But why wouldn’t the national security adviser want to talk to a magazine editor, a magazine that covers national security issues?
Watch above via MSNBC.
