National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is giving a full-throated endorsement to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, praising the Pentagon boss for staying focused on improving military readiness and lethality in the midst of a media maelstrom over Signal chats that he confirmed had its roots in Biden-era policies.

During a wide-ranging interview Tuesday evening with Just the News, Waltz said the Biden administration had approved and encouraged senior government officials to use the encrypted Signal chat software for sensitive text conversations as a means of protecting them from Chinese espionage.

"Look, it absolutely was authorized by the Biden administration," Waltz said. "That's why (CIA) Director (John) Ratcliffe said it was sitting there (on his phone) on his first day in office. Why? Because the Chinese were trying to intercept all of our communications."

Waltz blasted legacy media for ignoring essential facts in an effort to try to fan a scandal it has dubbed "Signalgate."

“Here's what the mainstream media doesn't want to talk about. They don't want to talk about the fact that the initial attack and subsequent attacks on the Houthis, which the Biden administration refused to do, have been phenomenally successful,” he said. “The Houthis are running scared. They are getting pounded. President Trump made it crystal clear that we have to have open sea lanes.

“And what they don't want to talk about now is under his leadership, under Secretary Hegseth's leadership, recruiting numbers are going up for the first time. Retention numbers are going up. We're talking about meritocracy and morale and lethality across our military.”

Waltz admitted weeks ago that his team accidentally added a reporter to a sensitive Signal conversation that he, Hegseth and other top officials had on a planned attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

Subsequent reporting alleged Hegseth also included his wife and personal lawyer on one of those conversations. 

Waltz signaled that Trump has put the whole matter behind him and that he wants to “get back to the President's agenda.”

The security advisor wholeheartedly embraced Hegseth, dispelling any notion the defense boss was in hot water inside the administration.

“I was proud to introduce him at his Senate confirmation hearing. We've known each other for many years. We have when I was a member of Congress, we talked a lot about getting, especially under the Biden team, getting the military back to lethality, getting them back to being a meritocracy, getting them back to putting respect and fear into our adversaries so that we can keep the peace through strength. And I'm so proud of him,” Waltz said.

“That's exactly what he's been doing. But guess what? When you shake up the system, the system tends to come after you, and look, he is doing a great job for the President. That's from the President. That's the President's word. But more importantly, he's doing a great job for the troops,” he added.