President Trump's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, must resign immediately. For a person in his role, where he is supposed to protect America's secrets and only advance President Trump's vision of security, Waltz showed callous disregard this week. Actions have consequences, especially when America's security is concerned. In this case, we call on Waltz to step down honorably, consistent with his brand as an ex-Army Special Forces officer with four Bronze stars. Waltz himself would have demanded nothing less of those reporting to him when he was in command.
The high-level snafu occurred when Waltz invited senior officials of the Trump national security team, including JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard, to a chat on the Signal platform. Signal is a free, open-source messaging app focused on privacy and security. It allows users to send end-to-end encrypted messages, make encrypted voice and video calls, and share media and files.
That was the first blunder. We have been critical of careless behavior by senior officials in the past, including Hillary Clinton's handling of emails on her private server at home and Vice President Joe Biden boxing up classified documents in his Delaware home. Applying the same standards, it is clear that Waltz was extraordinarily careless in employing a private chat app to discuss security matters at the highest level of the government.
No matter how secure Signal may be, it remains a private messaging app. Communicating by messaging is common practice in government and industry these days—think Microsoft Teams, Business WhatsApp, and Google Chat—but these applications are configured to work within the organizations' security protocols. Waltz's unforced error was using an unauthorized, privately available app to debate administration points of view among the nation's senior-most national security officials. This is unpardonable.
Worse, the world would never have known about this error, but Waltz invited Jeffrey Goldberg, a senior writer at Atlantic magazine and a bitter critic of Trump, to this chat group. We are at a loss to explain why a private journalist who has no business discussing government security policies was invited to a senior group of officials debating wartime strategies against the Houthi rebels.
We have all been members of group chat messages, and in a vibrant group with 15+ members, discussions can and often do go haywire. Indeed, during one exchange of messages, the vice president evidently commented that he disagreed with the president's policy, a rare admission of dissent from someone a heartbeat away from the presidency. In a strong administration, such disagreements are handled privately and in person between the top two officials of our government. For Vance to even engage 17 other members of the Trump team about an issue with which he disagrees with President Trump is also a gross failure of judgment on Vance's part. Vance's error forced the National Security Council spokesperson to scramble to address this so-called daylight between the president and vice president to say that all is good now and that the vice president completely supports President Trump. We doubt the Kremlin or Beijing bought the message.
The greater blame still goes to Waltz. As Jeffrey Goldberg said on PBS, had someone else who intended harm to America been invited to this chat group, that would have been tantamount to sharing war strategies with the enemy. In a way, we are glad that Jeffrey Goldberg, first and foremost an American and only then a journalist critical of Trump, was in the chat group. Otherwise, he could have published the secret group chat's contents for political and professional gain before the bombs fell and triggered one of the worst scandals of neglect coming from any White House in recent memory. Think impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
We are also disappointed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's comments about this whole debacle when he landed in Hawaii on a multi-stop trip that would take him to the Philippines and Japan. Rather than admit that the security team had committed a fiasco of massive proportions and promise it wouldn’t happen again, Hegseth—true to form as an experienced TV broadcaster—launched into a tirade against Goldberg in a classic non-denial denial.
"You're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again (Russia Russia Russia; the fine people on both sides)...this is a guy who peddles in garbage. Nobody was texting war plans and that's all I have to say about that."
This kind of attack was utterly unwarranted because Goldberg did nothing wrong in this particular instance. Goldberg was simply an innocent observer in a high-level chat room because he had been invited to participate in that group and he accepted. The Secretary of Defense is supposed to be in a non-partisan position, just like the Secretary of State. Hegseth's comments appeared as though he was President Trump's campaign manager speaking, placing the Pentagon in a poor light and showing again that Hegseth may not be suited for the role.
We berated the Biden administration for not firing a single official for incompetence or willful misconduct during a presidential term when over 18 million illegal aliens invaded America; inflation shot up to 50-year highs; America got into an "as-long-as-it-takes" war; and debt ballooned to $36 trillion.
President Trump has decided to stand by Mike Waltz, saying he’s a good man who learned a lesson. We understand loyalty, but this isn’t about politics—it’s about basic responsibility. National security is not where you make careless mistakes and hope it all works out. Waltz may have meant no harm, but the consequences could’ve been severe. We stand by our call: he should step down—for the good of the team, and the country. Remember, when General David Petraeus—a decorated war hero—shared top-secret information with someone outside the CIA, he had to go.
We support President Trump's "America First" agenda, which requires senior officials who are serious about their responsibilities and who don't commit extraordinary security breaches.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Russia And Ukraine Agree To Ceasefire In Black Sea, White House Says - BBC
Washington releases separate statements after American officials met representatives from both countries in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine agrees to stop military force in the Black Sea, but says any movement of Russian naval vessels would be a violation of the agreement. "It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions," says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Russia says certain sanctions on banks, insurers, and food exporters must be lifted before the ceasefire comes into force.
2. Russia And U.S. To Have Talks With UN Involvement, Negotiator Says - Reuters
“Everything was discussed - there was an intense, challenging dialogue, but it was very useful for us and for the Americans,” Russian Senator Grigory Karasin said. “Many problems were discussed.”
Karasin, a former diplomat, said that talks would continue and that the United Nations and other unidentified countries would be involved in them. A Russian source told Reuters that a draft joint statement had been sent to Moscow and Washington for approval, with the parties aiming to release it on Tuesday.
3. China Frees Staff Of U.S. Consulting Firm After 2-Year Detention - RFA
In May 2023, Beijing reportedly detained five staff members - all Chinese nationals - of Mintz Group after the U.S. firm conducted corporate due diligence investigations into the potential use of forced labor in goods supplied from Xinjiang.
The detention of Mintz Group staff began a sweeping crackdown on consultancy and due diligence firms, including Bain & Company’s office in Shanghai and Capvision Partners.
4. China Courts American, European Multinationals Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions - UPI
China reassured executives from American and European firms, including Apple, Qualcomm, Mastercard, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca, that the world's second-largest economy is open for business amid a looming tariff threat to its export-dependent economy.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng told CEOs Tim Cook, Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon, and Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, along with U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., attending a two-day conference in Beijing, that the country was looking for more foreign investment from international companies as it continues to open its economy.
5. Chinese Electric Carmaker BYD Sales Beat Tesla - BBC
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD says revenue rose by 29% to 777 billion yuan ($107 billion), boosted by sales of its hybrid vehicles. This topped the $97.7bn reported by Elon Musk's Tesla.
BYD has also just launched a lower-priced car to rival Tesla's Model 3, which has long been the top selling electric vehicle (EV) in China. It comes as Tesla faces a backlash around the world over Musk's ties to President Donald Trump, while Chinese carmakers have been hit with tariffs in Western countries.
6. Trade Of Venezuelan Oil To China Stalls After New Trump Order - Reuters
President Trump's order caught traders and refiners in China by surprise, stating that the U.S. may impose 25% tariffs on goods from any country importing Venezuelan oil, at the discretion of the Secretary of State, starting on April 2.
China is Venezuela's largest oil buyer, directly and indirectly taking in 503,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude and fuel, or 55% of its exports, that is mostly rebranded as Malaysian after transshipment.
7. Iran’s Currency Drops To A Record Low Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty - Reuters
Iran’s currency fell below the psychologically key level of 1,000,000 rial per US dollar on Tuesday, as market participants saw no end in sight to sanctions under President Donald Trump’s renewed “maximum pressure” campaign.
Faced with an annual inflation rate of about 40 percent, Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, or gold, suggesting further headwinds for the rial. The Iranian rial stood around 55,000 to the dollar in 2018, when the first Trump administration reimposed U.S. sanctions.
8. UN Warns Millions More Will Die From AIDS After U.S. Cuts - D.W.
The head of the United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, said that over 6 million additional deaths from the disease are expected after the U.S. slashed its funding.
Byanyima said the sudden cuts from the U.S., which had been the biggest donor to the program, had been "devastating." "You're talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious," she told reporters in Geneva. She pointed out that some 600,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded globally at the last count in 2023.
9. UK Officials Publish ‘Priority Pathogen’ List In Case Public Health Crisis Strikes - AFP
The UK Health Security Agency’s guide is designed to help researchers focus their efforts on certain viruses and bacteria that pose a threat to public health and speed up the development of vaccines.
The list includes pathogen families, including coronaviridae, which includes COVID-19, paramyxoviridae, which includes Nipah virus, and orthomyxoviridae, which includes avian flu. Ebola, norovirus, and pox are also listed.
10. Rwanda Planning To Attack Burundi, President Tells BBC - BBC
Burundi's president Évariste Ndayishimiye also said that Rwanda had tried to launch a coup a decade ago in Burundi, akin to "what it's doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo" now.
Rwanda has already hit back, calling the president's comments "surprising" and insisting that the two neighbours are co-operating on security plans for their shared border, which has been shut for over a year. Despite extensive UN evidence, Rwanda has always denied arming and backing the M23 rebel group, which has recently seized large parts of eastern DR Congo alongside Rwandan troops.
11. Americans' Expectations For The Economy Hit Their Lowest Level In 12 Years - Yahoo Finance
The latest consumer confidence index reading from the Conference Board was 92.9 in March, below the 100.1 seen in February and the lowest level in more than four years.
The expectations index, which is based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, ticked down to 65.2 from 72.9 and remained below the threshold of 80 — which typically signals recession ahead — for the second straight month.
12. Kentucky Enacts 'Bitcoin Rights' Legislation Amid Broader Crypto Developments - CoinMarketCap
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has officially signed the “Bitcoin Rights” bill into law, a move that solidifies protections for cryptocurrency users within the state.
House Bill 701, which was introduced by Rep. Adam Bowling on Feb. 19, aims to ensure the right to self-custody of digital assets and to run a crypto node without fear of local discrimination. The legislation, which garnered unanimous support in both the Kentucky House and Senate, prohibits any local zoning changes that could negatively affect crypto mining operations.
13. Alternatives Exist For Uncomfortable Bladder Testing For Women, Researchers Say - HealthDay News
A small urine leak might prompt a woman to worry she'll need an uncomfortable and invasive bladder test to treat her incontinence.
But good news—such bladder pressure tests probably aren't necessary, according to results from the first randomized clinical trial assessing their effectiveness. A range of other assessments work just as well as a bladder test in guiding treatment of female incontinence, researchers reported in The Lancet.
