The Rise, Influence, and Controversies of Michael Waltz

National Security Advisor

Part of a the Trump’s Circle Series

The Trump administration was rocked by an extraordinary security breach in mid-March 2025: National Security Advisor Michael “Mike” Waltz inadvertently added The Atlantic**’s editor-in-chief to a secret Signal messaging group discussing plans to bomb Yemen’s Houthi rebels** (POLITICO) (News4jax). The encrypted chat – titled “Houthi PC small group” – included at least 18 senior officials, among them Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (ABC News). In the chat, Waltz assigned his deputy to assemble a “tiger team” for coordinating U.S. strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis (Reuters). The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, upon receiving Waltz’s Signal invite, realized he had front-row access to what should have been highly classified deliberations (POLITICO). The blunder triggered immediate shockwaves in Washington, with officials inside the White House privately calling Waltz “a fing idiot*” for the lapse…