Jeffrey Goldberg is an ‘anti-Trump hater’: Leavitt calls out Atlantic editor-in-chief

WASHINGTON (TNND) — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “The Atlantic” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg is an “anti-Trump hater” who just wants to spread lies with a “sensationalized story” about the U.S. leaking so-called classified military information.

She said Goldberg’s goal is to make President Donald Trump and his administration look bad.
Leavitt, who also said Goldberg and his wife are registered Democrats, made the comments during a news briefing Wednesday, which marked two days after Trump officials accidentally included the journalist on a group chat with multiple intelligence leaders.

FILE – Jeffrey Goldberg speaks on stage after the “The Atlantic Presents: This Ghost of Slavery” panel for The Atlantic Festival 2024 on Sept. 20, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for The Atlantic)

She said Goldberg is a “big Democrat donor” who work under Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“This is the same Jeffrey Goldberg who infamously lied about weapons of mass destruction to get us into the Iraq war, which cost trillions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers,” Leavitt said, also alleging that Goldberg frequently wrote favorable stories about former President Joe Biden.“The real story here is the overwhelming success of President Trump’s decisive military action against Houthi terrorists,” she added.

Jeffrey Goldberg is an ‘anti-Trump hater’: Leavitt calls out Atlantic editor-in-chief (Video: CNN Newsource)

According to Goldberg, the chat highlighted sensitive material about the U.S.’s military plans to attack the Houthi terrorist group.

Leavitt said despite what Goldberg has reported, no classified information was posted to the Signal chat or shared with Goldberg, who she added is known for spinning information.

Leavitt also said Trump “continues to have confidence in his national security team,” adding that his administration refuses to be lectured by Democrats like Goldberg.

The national security advisor has taken responsibility for this matter,” she said. “The National Security Council immediately said, alongside the White House Counsel’s office, that they are looking in to how a reporter’s number was inadvertently added to this messaging thread. We have said all along that no classified material was sent on this messaging thread. There were no locations, no sources, or methods revealed, and there were certainly no war plans discussed. The Atlantic has even admitted this themselves. Their release of these internal messages validates the truth, which we have been saying all along.”

She went on to say that Goldberg’s reporting shows that he and the publication — and Democrats — are skilled at spewing propaganda.

“There’s arguably no one in the media who loves manufacturing and pushing hoaxes more than Jeffrey Goldberg,” Leavitt said.

Earlier on Wednesday, The Atlantic released the entire Signal chat that was shared among senior national security officials.

“I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans,” Goldberg previously wrote. “I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president.”

Several Democratic leaders have since urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to resign in wake of the leak.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, plan to send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an inspector general investigation into the use of Signal. They seek a classified briefing with a top administration official “who can speak to the facts” of the episode.

“If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen,” Reed, who is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

“Military operations need to be handled with utmost discretion, using approved, secure lines of communication, because American lives are on the line,” Reed added. “The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately.”