Leak of Trump team's secret chat confirms fears of European allies - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
In the correspondence, US officials expressed disdain for European allies, believing that they "free-ride" on US assistance in the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, planning to shift the costs to them.
The disclosure of personal messages between senior U.S. officials has provided a unique glimpse into their plans to strike Houthi militants earlier this month. The messages also revealed the full extent of their contempt for European allies, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
Details
An exchange between U.S. Vice President Jay Dee Vance and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, revealed as part of an Atlantic magazine article on Monday, underscored their belief that European allies are "free-loading" on U.S. efforts to pursue Houthi militants in Yemen, the publication writes.
"I just hate saving Europe again," said the user identified as Vance in the chat, expressing doubts about whether to continue striking. "And if there are things we can do in advance to minimize the risk to Saudi oil facilities, we should do it."
"V.P.: I completely share your disgust with European free-loading," Hegseth replied. "It's pathetic."
This correspondence was included in a series of text messages received by The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, after he was accidentally added to a text group with senior Trump administration officials who were planning attacks on the Houthis, a Yemeni militia that has threatened shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year. The attacks soon occurred.
"The concerns of European allies are already deep" regarding the U.S. after repeated attacks by President Donald Trump, accusing them of insufficient defense funding or large spending on Ukraine's defense. Trump also promises to impose huge duties that will shake the economies of several European Union member states, the publication writes.
Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, in which he accused Germany of censoring far-right supporters, added fuel to the fire. And Hegseth gave a speech at NATO that further ruffled feathers when he said the U.S. cannot be "primarily focused on Europe's security," the publication points out.
"However, personal text messages went further: White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said the U.S. would calculate the costs associated with striking the Houthis and "put them on the Europeans" at Trump's request," the publication said.
"In an amazing story about a Signal group coordinating airstrikes in Yemen, Vice President Jay Dee Vance is once again driven by deep anti-European resentment," former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt wrote on X.
A National Security Council spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on relations with Europe. But the White House confirmed that the text exchange appeared to be genuine.
"Against the backdrop of hostile rhetoric, European allies may now also wonder about the implications of sharing secret information with Americans," the publication writes.
Personal comments from Trump officials in a group message are similar to what they say publicly about Europe, but allies will be concerned about advanced methods in communication procedures, according to Emily Harding, a former senior intelligence official and now vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"Anything that suggests that recipients of their information are not using advanced methods will be of concern," she said.
Larry Pfeiffer, former Senior Director of the White House Situation Room, said that officials' use of the Signal messaging app to share top-secret information was "completely inexcusable."
Nevertheless, allies, the publication writes, are unlikely to drastically reduce information sharing. While allied countries can provide valuable intelligence to the U.S., especially in sensitive parts of the world to which American officials have limited access, foreign partners tend to rely disproportionately on the intelligence that the U.S. shares with them.
"I am concerned that this recklessness will cause our allies to think twice before sharing confidential information with us," Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, wrote in an email. "Unfortunately, this seems to be part of a pattern," he added.
