Trump Calls Signal Incident "Nothing but a Witch Hunt"... Labels It a 'Political Offensive'

On Truth Social, Criticizes NBC as "Fake News Media"
Calls It a "Witch Hunt by the Radical Left" Lacking Real Issues
Self-Praise: "First 100 Days in Office Were Highly Successful"

Donald Trump, President of the United States, is making a gesture by raising his finger before boarding Air Force One, his official aircraft, at Andrews Joint Base in Maryland on the 28th (local time). / Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

U.S. President Donald Trump is dismissing the so-called 'Signal Gate' controversy as a 'political attack' by opposition forces aiming to shake the second Trump administration. Despite survey results showing that American citizens feel uneasy about military plans being discussed via commercial messengers, he maintains that there is no problem.

On the 31st (local time), President Trump called the media's "endless coverage" of the Signal group chat leak incident "an old and boring story" through his social networking service (SNS) Truth Social, which he created.

He also praised Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, who in an interview with NBC host Kristen Welker said that Trump "responded well to the never-ending witch hunt over the 'radical left's' Signal Gate."

President Trump further claimed, "This incident is already an old story and tiresome," adding, "The reason they keep dragging this issue is because my first 100 days in office were very successful." He labeled media outlets like NBC, which have been critical of him, as "fake news media" and accused them of "repeating the same story because they can't find other topics."

Signal Gate refers to the incident where key figures in the Trump administration's foreign and security team discussed military plans in a private Signal chat room. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of the American media outlet The Atlantic, revealed on the 25th that he was added to a group chat of national security leaders discussing airstrikes in Yemen. The White House confirmed the related facts on the same day. While the U.S. Congress has been continuously criticizing this as "serious security negligence," the second Trump administration has consistently denied any problems.

President Trump is also publicly defending National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who provided the lead to Signal Gate. Although U.S. political media such as Politico suggested the possibility of Waltz's dismissal, it is believed that no action was taken. However, according to the New York Times (NYT) and online media Axios, the concern was more about loyalty issues involving Waltz and editor Goldberg rather than the mistake itself.

In an NBC interview on the 29th, President Trump reiterated his intention to keep Waltz, saying, "I will not fire anyone because of fake news or witch hunts." When asked if he had discussed Waltz's position, he responded, "No one but me makes that decision," and denied, "I have never heard such talk."

Meanwhile, in a CBS survey conducted on the 27th and 28th, 75% of respondents said the so-called 'Signal Gate' was "very or somewhat serious." Additionally, 76% viewed the use of commercial messengers for discussing military plans as inappropriate. President Trump's approval rating was recorded at 50%, which is a 1 percentage point drop from last month but remains higher than during his first term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.