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Good morning,
On the eve of the inauguration, I wrote here that I was cautiously optimistic that the 2rump administration was going to at least show some more baseline competence than the first go-around. In fact, I still get heat from some of you guys for simply saying then that, as an American, I was “rooting for the president to succeed.” Anyway, my competence theory has been put to the test with the news that broke around lunchtime yesterday courtesy of The Atlantic.
In case you are blissfully unaware of what I’m talking about, here’s the gist: Jeff Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of that magazine, published a piece claiming that he had been added—evidently by accident—to a group chat with Trump’s top national security team earlier this month in which they were discussing top secret war plans for the upcoming strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
The text chain took place on the secure messaging app Signal, probably because the Chinese have completely infiltrated our telecom infrastructure (a topic for another day). The chain showed what appeared to be Pete Hegseth, JD Vance and other top officials revealing the time and location of the impending airstrikes, as well as the PR strategy around them. It was actually kind of enlightening to read, with my biggest takeaway being that Vance is consistent in both public and private about really hating the Europeans. Goldberg took and published plenty of screenshots of the conversation suggesting it was all legit, and the White House has more or less confirmed the story’s veracity.
Hegseth is taking most of the heat for this screw up, but it actually appears to be Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who was the one who added Goldberg to the chain to begin with. Maybe he meant to add Jeff Goldblum? And why did Trump’s top nat sec guy have the editor-in-chief of the Trump-hating Atlantic saved in his contacts on an encrypted messaging app to begin with? Hmm. If the president cuts him loose over this, that will be the real reason.
The thing I keep forgetting about whenever Trump is president is that he creates this universe in which absolutely bonkers stories like this can exist, mostly due to the caliber of people he chooses to surround himself with. But by doing so, he also triggers an overreaction (this was a big and embarrassing f-up but not the end of the world, as its playing on MSNBC and CNN, and Goldberg handled it well without disclosing anything too sensitive)… and then, like clockwork, a reaction to the overreaction.
Having been down this road countless times, I would not be shocked if Trump said or did something particularly outlandish today to get the media off the text story, just like how he came out and blamed that Potomac plane crash on Joe Biden an hour before his most controversial cabinet appointees were facing their confirmation hearings. The man can play the media like a fiddle, and we are more than happy to go onto the next shiny thing.
President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign playbook—using longform podcast interviews to sidestep the mainstream media—is now a cornerstone of his administration’s communication strategy. Podcast appearances have supplanted legacy television interviews as one of the main tools for the administration to get out its message, with cabinet-level officials logging hours behind microphones with friendly hosts, laying out policies and strategy with minimal confrontation. Read more from Newsweek’s Jesus Mesa.
Also happening:
Deportation flights: Federal Chief Judge James Boasberg handed the Trump administration a new legal blow to their deportation flights case on Monday by not lifting the ban he previously implemented. Here’s the latest from court.U.S.-Canada relations: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized the state of U.S.-Canada relations during a poignant visit to Gander, Newfoundland—the small town that famously welcomed thousands of stranded American airline passengers after the 9/11 attacks. “This crisis caused by the U.S. president and those enabling him… we lament a friendship lost,” Carney said. Read more.
This is a preview of The 1600—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
