Trump's Unlikely Firing Spree: The Signal Chat Fiasco

Mike Waltz, the national security advisor, is not expected to lose his job over the Signal chat leak. This is despite the fact that he created the group chat and accidentally included a journalist. Two people close to the president have shared this information. The president has shown his support for Waltz publicly. He even defended Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, who was involved in the leak. Hegseth sent messages that raised concerns about classified information. However, Trump claims Hegseth had nothing to do with the leak. This seems contradictory, but it shows Trump's unwillingness to admit mistakes. Trump enjoys the aggressive responses from his officials to the criticism about the leak. He sees it as a way to avoid admitting fault. He also downplays the leak, calling it minor and unimportant. This is his way of not giving the Atlantic magazine a "victory. " The Trump administration has tried to defend the leak by saying the military plans were not classified. However, this became harder to believe when the Atlantic published the full text chain. The details in the chat showed the level of detail in the attack plans. The White House press secretary and other officials argued that the messages were not a "war plan. " They said the term "attack plans" was more accurate. Former US officials disagree. They say the information shared was sensitive and could have compromised the mission if leaked. The Department of Defense's guidelines suggest that the kind of details in the Signal chat would typically be classified. Some of the real-time updates could have been classified at a higher level. This shows how serious the leak was and why it should not be dismissed as minor. Waltz also shared a real-time update in the chat. This update would have been classified if it came from an intelligence asset. This further highlights the sensitivity of the information shared in the chat.