Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Jamaica on Wednesday, where he was asked by reporters about the growing scandal around officials in President Donald Trump's administration using a Signal chat to post war plans against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
On Monday, a bombshell report in The Atlantic alleged that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared secret war plans in a Signal chat that included a reporter among its membership.
The story reveals a Signal chat among top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet who discussed classified military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
ALSO READ: 'Dancing around': Senator slams Trump officials for ducking questions over 'huge mistake'
Rubio began by telling reporters that the reason it was set up was to coordinate informing American allies about strikes.
"Obviously, someone made a mistake. Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist. Nothing against journalists, but you ain't supposed to be on that thing," said Rubio. "So they got on there and this happened. I've been, you know, so I can speak to myself and my presence on it. I think my role on it was just speaking for my role. I contributed to it twice. I identified my point of contact, which is my chief of staff. And then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements had been made, I congratulated the members of the team."
Rubio said he was "assured by the Pentagon and everyone involved that none of the information that was on there, though not intended to be divulged, obviously, that was a mistake and that shouldn't have happened, and the White House is looking at it. But that none of the information on there at any point threatened the operation or the lives of our servicemen. And in fact, there was a very successful operation, and it's an ongoing operation. But that was the intent behind it. and again, i think the pentagon's made clear that nothing on there would have endangered the lives or the mission. And the mission has been very successful."
A reporter asked Rubio whether the information in the chat was classified.
Rubio replied, "Well, the Pentagon says it was not. And not only does it say it was not, they make very clear that it didn't put in danger anyone's life or the mission, the intelligence. There was no intelligence information, and I understand that when this story first broke, they were sort of alluding to their war maps or this .... There were no war plans on there."
Rubio expects the White House to ensure it never happens again. "It can't," he said.
See the clip below or at the link here.