White House reportedly blames auto-suggested iPhone contact for Signal scandal

Atlantic Editor Added to Trump Administration Signal Chat: An Accidental Inclusion?

The perplexing question arose: How did Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, find himself a participant in a Signal group chat among Trump administration officials discussing strategies for a prospective airstrike in Yemen? This incident sparked curiosity and prompted inquiries into the unusual circumstances surrounding his unexpected presence in the digital conversation.

Initial Claim: An Unintentional Contact Addition

The seemingly straightforward clarification offered was that then-National Security Aide Mike Waltz inadvertently included Goldberg in the chat. Waltz asserted that Goldberg’s contact information was “imported” from another contact on his device, leading to the mistaken addition. However, Goldberg initially dismissed this notion, quipping, “This isn’t ‘The Matrix.’”

White House Inquiry Uncovers “Auto-Suggestion” Factor

Nevertheless, according to The Guardian, an internal inquiry conducted by the White House information technology department suggested a more intricate sequence of events. The investigation pointed to the iPhone’s auto-suggestion feature as a contributing factor. The probe revealed that Goldberg had previously contacted the White House via email seeking comment for a story. Subsequently, Brian Hughes, a Trump administration spokesperson at the time, forwarded the content of Goldberg’s email to Waltz via text message.

iPhone Feature Led to Contact Mix-Up

Consequently, Waltz’s iPhone reportedly generated a “contact suggestion update,” which inadvertently associated and saved Goldberg’s phone number under Hughes’ contact entry. Subsequently, when Waltz attempted to add Hughes – who later became a spokesperson for the National Security Council – to the Signal communication, he purportedly added Goldberg to the group chat instead due to this contact association error.

Goldberg’s Acknowledgment

Addressing the incident, Goldberg stated, “I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Mike Waltz beyond acknowledging that I know him and have communicated with him previously.”