Waltz discussed ending Russia’s war against Ukraine via Signal – WSJ

According to WSJ sources, Waltz created and managed several confidential Signal chats critical to national security, involving members of the US government.

These chats reportedly included discussions on US mediation between Russia and Ukraine as well as military missions. However, the sources did not clarify whether classified information was discussed in these chats.

It is noted that after the Signal chat scandal discussing strikes on the Houthis, where The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added, Waltz began losing influence over President Donald Trump and support from other White House officials.

WSJ sources stated that Trump’s main issue with Waltz was not the creation of the chat or discussions of sensitive information, but the fact that Waltz had Goldberg’s phone number.

According to the sources, Trump ultimately kept Waltz in his position to avoid giving Democrats and the media reason for criticism. One source said that if news of the Signal chat leak had first appeared in a conservative outlet like Breitbart, Waltz would have already been fired.

The Signal scandal

As a reminder, a high-profile scandal recently erupted in the United States when National Security Advisor Mike Waltz inadvertently added The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg to a group discussion of a plan for air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen by senior officials in a Signal chat room. The Atlantic then published an article about the data leak.

Read more about this incident in the material by RBC-Ukraine.

Politico also reported that US Vice President J.D. Vance suggested that Trump should fire Waltz.

Western media sources said that the US President agreed that Waltz had made a mistake, but Trump ultimately decided not to fire him to avoid giving liberal media and Democrats a reason to claim they were right.