Image: Pexels/Mart Production Back in 2019, once-and-future President Donald Trump made this pronouncement: “There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent.”
While most will dispute that statement, this week’s big news (so far) might actually support it. Just not in a good way.
On Monday, The Atlantic reported that editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added to a group chat of Trump administration leaders discussing the then-upcoming U.S. bombing of Houthi rebels in Yemen. Those in the group included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and over a dozen others. They were using the encrypted messaging app Signal, which is open-sourced and publicly available—raising concerns about the leak of classified information and legal concerns about using Signal to share it.
So far it appears Goldberg was added to the chat accidentally. His report avoided details he felt were sensitive or that could put military personnel or intelligence operations at risk. However, he noted the chat included specifics that proved true once the strikes took place.
The administration quickly went into crisis mode. Intelligence leaders assured Congress that while the chat contained “sensitive” details, it didn’t include classified information. President Trump defended Waltz in a media briefing, while others in the administration and Republicans in Congress tried to characterize the incident as “sensationalist.” Some even reached back to Hillary Clinton’s private email server for cover—a comparison that experts say isn’t the same.
While the internet is enjoying a meme-athon over all this, clearly Washington isn’t amused. There are many thorny legal questions already being posed. Answers that satisfy will be tough.
It seems unlikely that this incident will fade from the spotlight without somebody taking the fall. It’s possible that Waltz will offer to take the hit and resign. But given the administration’s lack of willingness to own any error, I worry that the blame will be shifted elsewhere. Signal might take a hit, perhaps. But I think it’s more likely fingers will point at The Atlantic—and, by association, the news media in general.
The Trump administration’s disdain for mainstream media is well documented. Hanging The Atlantic and Goldberg out to dry—might they levy an espionage charge based on Goldberg’s failure to remove himself from the chat, even if he believed it was a scam?—would certainly serve that narrative.
Such a “spin” of this incident would further damage media’s efforts to cover this government while making a supposedly transparent administration even more opaque than it is.
The lesson for communicators? Transparency is about honesty and accountability. I'm not optimistic we’ll see much of that in the coming days.
While most will dispute that statement, this week’s big news (so far) might actually support it. Just not in a good way.
On Monday, The Atlantic reported that editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added to a group chat of Trump administration leaders discussing the then-upcoming U.S. bombing of Houthi rebels in Yemen. Those in the group included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and over a dozen others. They were using the encrypted messaging app Signal, which is open-sourced and publicly available—raising concerns about the leak of classified information and legal concerns about using Signal to share it.
So far it appears Goldberg was added to the chat accidentally. His report avoided details he felt were sensitive or that could put military personnel or intelligence operations at risk. However, he noted the chat included specifics that proved true once the strikes took place.
The administration quickly went into crisis mode. Intelligence leaders assured Congress that while the chat contained “sensitive” details, it didn’t include classified information. President Trump defended Waltz in a media briefing, while others in the administration and Republicans in Congress tried to characterize the incident as “sensationalist.” Some even reached back to Hillary Clinton’s private email server for cover—a comparison that experts say isn’t the same.
While the internet is enjoying a meme-athon over all this, clearly Washington isn’t amused. There are many thorny legal questions already being posed. Answers that satisfy will be tough.
It seems unlikely that this incident will fade from the spotlight without somebody taking the fall. It’s possible that Waltz will offer to take the hit and resign. But given the administration’s lack of willingness to own any error, I worry that the blame will be shifted elsewhere. Signal might take a hit, perhaps. But I think it’s more likely fingers will point at The Atlantic—and, by association, the news media in general.
The Trump administration’s disdain for mainstream media is well documented. Hanging The Atlantic and Goldberg out to dry—might they levy an espionage charge based on Goldberg’s failure to remove himself from the chat, even if he believed it was a scam?—would certainly serve that narrative.
Such a “spin” of this incident would further damage media’s efforts to cover this government while making a supposedly transparent administration even more opaque than it is.
The lesson for communicators? Transparency is about honesty and accountability. I'm not optimistic we’ll see much of that in the coming days.
RSS Feed
