The White House has claimed the fiasco around the leaking of sensitive security information to a journalist is a "coordinated distraction" as President Donald Trump defends the adviser at the heart of the controversy. A statement issued earlier branded the ongoing security row a "coordinated effort to distract from the successful action by Donald Trump to make America's enemies pay".

In a significant security lapse revealed yesterday, senior officials from the Trump administration inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a Signal group chat discussing classified military operations against Yemen's Houthi rebels. Participants in the chat included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The incident has sparked widespread criticism, with experts highlighting the risks of using non-secure communication platforms for sensitive information.

On Tuesday, during an a brief interview with NBC News' Garrett Haake Mr Trump branded Mr Goldberg a "sleazebag", downplaying the incident as “the only glitch in two months" of his administration "and it turned out not to be a serious one".

He added: "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man."

Asked how the blunder had occurred, he said: “It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said in post on X that no war plans were discussed and that “No classified material was sent to the thread".

She stressed: "As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread."

Speaking in Congress, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who is responsible for providing oversight of all US intelligence agencies, said: "Putting aside for a moment that classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system.

"It's also just mind-boggling to me that all these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered to even check security. Hygiene 101.

"Who are all the names? Who are they? Well, it apparently included a journalist."

"If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer, and they had this kind of behaviour, they would be fired."

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