The White House on Wednesday scrambled to contain the controversy of a Signal group chat of national security officials that became public, opting for its signature defiant approach but one that left even some Republicans scratching their heads.

After The Atlantic published messages from the chat, to which Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added, administration officials went on the attack against the publication and downplayed the significance of the revelations.

Officials seized on a headline description of “attack plans” rather than “war plans,” suggesting that slight difference in wording showed the controversy was overblown. They also argued no specific names, locations or sources of intelligence were revealed, although specific military aircraft, weapons and timing of strikes were laid out.

“I don’t know about downplaying. The press up-plays it. I think it’s all a witch hunt,” President Trump told reporters Wednesday. “The attacks were unbelievably successful, and that’s ultimately what you should be talking about I think.”

Trump acknowledged national security adviser Mike Waltz took responsibility for the mistake, while saying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was doing a “great job” and “had nothing to do with it.”

Still, the publication of the messages and the subsequent response raised difficult questions for the administration and its handling of the entire episode. The situation was complicated by a Senate hearing on Tuesday in which Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were adamant that

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