The White House has announced that the case involving the leakage of confidential data via the Signal Messenger app is closed and that it is "moving forward."
“This case has been closed here at the White House. As far as we are concerned, there have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again, and we’re moving forward,” said the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt last Monday.
The White House's closure of the scandal came swiftly, just a week after the editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, triggered an avalanche with an article describing how he had become an "interloper" in correspondence about launching an attack on the extremist Houthis in Yemen against his will.
Will the mere announcement of the case's closure effectively end it? Or is it the administration's desire to kill the story as soon as possible because it is causing significant damage, and it is investing enormous resources and reputation to fix it?
The scale of Signalgate and the wide range of players involved, and even more interested in the matter being truly resolved, are likely to drag the case out far longer than the administration imagined.
Is Mike Waltz really staying?
One of the big issues that the government has not resolved with the announcement regarding the closure of the scandal is the position of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as the central figure in the case of leaked classified data via an unprotected channel.
"As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt while announcing the closure of the Signal case.
Last week, however, Signalgate not only severely damaged the reputation of one of Trump's closest associates but, above all, exposed one of the highest positions in the US security leadership as unreliable.
Mr Waltz has received the public support of his boss, but the scars he suffered during the affair appear to be far more serious than the president's support could heal.
Unnamed sources have spread news of turmoil in the White House
In recent days, unnamed sources have spread news of turmoil in the White House, even calls for President Trump to fire Mr Waltz in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
According to Politico's sources, Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and top personnel official Sergio Gor asked President Trump to replace Mr Waltz in the early days of the affair.
CBS reported that there was a discussion behind closed doors about whether Mike Waltz should go, even though he did not offer it directly, nor did President Trump ask him to.
An unpleasant tradition
Various sources agree that President Trump's real motive for keeping Mr Waltz in office is that he did not want to acknowledge the defeat he suffered at the hands of The Atlantic, his great critic, as well as the Democrats, who bombarded him with demands for the dismissal of his close associates.
If these assessments are correct, there is little guarantee that Trump's national security adviser will remain in office for long. "They'll stick by him for now, but he'll be gone in a couple of weeks," said one Politico source about the possible fate of Mike Waltz.
Mr Waltz's badly tarnished reputation will be a major liability for the Trump administration
The tradition of President Trump's previous term in office does not exactly favour Waltz's prospects for continued employment. Trump then fired his first national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, just three weeks after being sworn in.
In any case, Mr Waltz's badly tarnished reputation will be a major liability for the Trump administration at a time when the US is spearheading several important security initiatives, most notably related to ending the war in Ukraine.
A mark on relations with allies
The leaking of information via Signal chat also had implications for the US alliance with Israel, which could be another reason why the affair cannot be concluded as swiftly as the White House expects.
It was Israeli sources who provided the American partners with intel from Yemen, and some of this data was found in the compromised communications on Signal. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Israeli officials have complained to their American partners about this.
The fallout affected the strength of the Republican majority in the US Congress
The way the administration defended itself last week and tried to play down the consequences of leaking classified information was often unconvincing and contradictory. It all gave the impression that the administration was not handling the crisis in a way that would protect the country's security interests.
The fallout also affected the strength of the Republican majority in the US Congress, as some prominent Republicans also demanded answers to a problem they do not see as harmless to national security.
Declaring Signalgate closed will therefore not be enough to keep the administration calm so it can continue without consequences.
