White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed CNN’s Kaitlan Collins’ inquiry while defending the use of Signal by Trump officials to coordinate a military strike during a fiesty back-and-forth from the podium on Wednesday. Collins had asked whether the president felt “misled” by his national security advisors, who had asserted that no classified information was exchanged in the Signal chat.
“‘I’ve now been asked and answered this question three times by the both of you, and I’ve given you my answer, the president feels the same today as he did yesterday,” Leavitt responded. But as Collins attempted to ask a follow-up question, Leavitt shut her down with seven words: “Kaitlin, I’m not taking your follow up” — moving on to RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegman.
“Kaitlin, I’m not taking your follow up.” @PressSec is in parenting mode ? pic.twitter.com/KFdnzcw9jX
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 26, 2025
Leavitt stated that President Trump had reviewed the text messages published by The Atlantic after its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to the chat. She dismissed the article as mere “word games” and “sensational spin,” characterizing the editor as an “anti-Trump sensationalist reporter.”
“Goldberg is an anti-Trump hater,” Leavitt continued. “He is a registered Democrat. Goldberg’s wife is also a registered Democrat and a big Democrat donor who used to work under who Hillary Clinton.” Leavitt grew frustrated as reporters continued to focus on the Signal chat fiasco, marking one of her toughest days yet on the job. “I have now been asked and answered the same question using different language multiple times. If anybody has another question, there’s a lot of different things going on in the world,” she added.
Goldberg, the Canadian-born editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal chat that included Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and others discussing the imminent bombing of Houthi strongholds in Yemen. In his report, Goldberg contends that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed “war plans” several hours before the bombing began—a term he prominently featured in the headline.
One day after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Goldberg of adding “sensationalist spin” to his report, editors have changed the story’s headline. It now reads “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisors Shared on Signal.” Journalist Eric Daugherty posted on X, stating that the revision confirmed Hegseth’s assertion that no war plans or classified intelligence had been shared with Goldberg.
“THEY’RE BACKPEDALING! The Atlantic just sent out an update report CLARIFYING that there WERE NO WAR PLANS exchanged in that Signal chat… they were (as we all saw) some discussion on the Houthi strikes that Americans knew were coming,” he said. “This hoax totally fell on its face!”
