How Marco Rubio Is Staying Above the Fray in Signal Controversy

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered more extensive comments on the "mistake" of including a journalist in a group chat about U.S. battle plans than he did in the chat itself.

That may have been by design.

Rubio drew attention Wednesday by delivering the sharpest criticism yet by a senior administration official of the inadvertent inclusion of a journalist on a group chat on Signal that detailed plans for imminent U.S. strikes against the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month. The administration has faced widespread criticism this week — including from many Republicans — for using a commercially available messaging app to discuss sensitive military information in real-time.

"Obviously someone made a mistake," Rubio told reporters. "Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist. Nothing against journalists, but you ain't supposed to be on that thing."

The remarks, while not lengthy, were far more substantive than Rubio's comments in the actual Signal chat where Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior officials offered unvarnished views on national security and defense issues.

Rubio was less chatty in the Signal thread, offering a reminder of his unique role inside the administration as a veteran foreign policy hand with 15 years of Washington experience — as well as his instinct for avoiding most of the political drama surrounding President Donald Trump's second term.

"I think Rubio in this group was probably watching his words very closely," said Mara Rudman, a former senior national security official in the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Rubio only wrote two messages — totaling 10 words — in the Signal chat.

His first response came after National Security Adviser Mike Waltz — the official who mistakenly added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat — asked other officials to each provide the name of an aide who could serve as their best point-of-contact to coordinate communication around the planned air strikes against the Houthis. The strikes were carried out against the Iranian-backed group that has been attacking international shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year.

"Mike Needham for State," Rubio, who was identified in the Signal chat by his initials MAR, wrote back on March 13.

Rubio chimed in just once more, according to a transcript of the chat, after Waltz updated the group on March 15 with news that the first airstrike was successful.

"Good Job Pete and your team!!" Rubio wrote, praising the defense secretary. (On Wednesday, Rubio acknowledged that he wrote the two messages in the Signal chat, which was made public by The Atlantic.)

Rubio "wasn't really offering up substantive commentary. It's really Hegseth that started sharing classified information," said Kevin Caroll, a former CIA officer who also spent 30 years in the Army and Army Reserves and served in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term in office.

At the same time, Rubio didn't urge the other officials to take the chat to a secure communications system despite his experience as a former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and stature as one of the highest-ranking officials in the conversation, Carroll added.

"He should have thrown the flag and said 'Guys, let's have this conversation'" securely, Carroll said of Rubio.

Newsweek reached out to the State Department for comment on this story.

Hegseth has said he did not share "war plans," and the White House has sought to downplay the controversy. Trump has publicly defended Waltz, also suggesting Hegseth had "nothing to do with this" and that there was no harm done because the airstrikes had been "unbelievably successful." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the administration has "never denied that this was a mistake."

"The national security adviser took responsibility for that. And we have said we are making changes," Leavitt said.

Rubio was not the only high-ranking official who chose to stay on the sidelines in the discussion on Signal. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also appear to have only written two short messages.

As the nation's top diplomat, Rubio does not have final say on military planning, which perhaps helps explain his decision to defer in the chat to other officials.

Traditionally, secretaries of state also like to appear laser-focused on their own portfolios and areas of influence. Rubio has taken that approach by engaging in shuttle diplomacy on high-profile foreign policy issues such as ending Russia's war in Ukraine, though he's also played a role in some controversies at home, including the detention of U.S. residents who protested Israel's war in Gaza.

Still, Rubio's decision not to weigh in with candid opinions in the Signal chat stands in marked contrast to the approach taken by other senior administration officials.

Vance expressed detailed views in the chat about the administration's messaging around the airstrikes, his concern that opening up shipping lanes would help Europe more than the U.S., and fear that an attack on the Houthis would lead to a spike in oil prices.

Waltz laid out the pros and cons of delaying the airstrikes and also provided an assessment of the economic and national security implications.

Hegseth held back even less in the chat. The defense secretary provided operational details on the timing and targets of the airstrikes, while offering unusually candid views on the politics and optics of the planned attacks. Hegseth and Vance also criticized Europe in stark language that left little doubt about their personal views on the transatlantic alliance.

"I just hate bailing out Europe again," Vance wrote in a comment March 14 that was addressed to the defense secretary. Hegseth replied four minutes later: "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC."

If Rubio privately shares those views, he didn't let on. The only digital trail he left in the Signal chat was the name of an aide and a terse congratulations.