Donald Trump’s top national security officials texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat – but they were unaware a journalist was in the group
Bombshell leaked messages lay bare the level of the contempt some of Donald Trump’s key cabinet members feel for their “free-loading” European allies.
The exchanges, which show the depth of the hostility on the US side, were mistakenly sent to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, after he was added to the group chat. Extracts have now emerged and show one user, named in the app “JD Vance”, expresses concern about the military strikes against Houthi strongholds in Yemen. The user eventually agrees to go along with a plan, purportedly set aside by US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, but they state: “I just hate bailing Europe out again”. To which, the user thought to be Mr Hegseth responds: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
Questions surround how – and by whom – Mr Goldberg was ever allowed into the group, which also included secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. According to Mr Goldberg, the messages featured information that could easily have been weaponised by enemies of the United States to harm their personnel and assets.
The journalist wrote: “The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility.
“What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
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And the the leaked messages also show interesting differences of opinion between some of the best-known figures in the current administration. With reference to the military strike in Yemen, the Vance user stated: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.
“There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
But the Hegseth user said they understood Vance’s concerns and urged him to raise them with the president, but argued for immediate action.
Asked by about the leaked messages, the US President on Monday told reporters at the White House that he hadn’t seen The Atlantic story revealing the details of the group chat. Looking puzzled, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. It’s to me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business.”
Former Democratic Party presidential candidate and long term Trump adversary Hillary Clinton responded to news of the leaked messages on X, saying “You have got to be kidding me”.