Bombshell messages accidentally sent to a journalist by Donald Trump’s administration disclosed sensitive war plans and complaints about the U.S. defending “free-loading Europe.”
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed on Monday that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had mistakenly added him to an encrypted Signal chat group called the “Houthi PC small group.”
The chat was meant for high-ranking officials coordinating U.S. military action against Houthis, the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.
The group included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Donald Trump launched a campaign of large-scale military strikes against Houthis on March 15 over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping.
Hours before the attacks started, Hegseth posted operational details about the plan in the messaging group, which included information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying and attack sequencing.
‘European free-loading’
According to screenshots of the chat reported by The Atlantic, officials in the group debated whether the U.S. should carry out the strikes, and at one point Vance appeared to question whether U.S. allies in Europe, more exposed to shipping disruption in the region, deserved U.S. help.
Vance wrote: “@PeteHegseth if you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.
“Let's just make sure our messaging is tight here.”
Responding to Vance, Hegseth wrote: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.
“But Mike [Waltz] is correct, we are the only ones on the planet [on our side of the ledger] who can do this. Nobody else even close.”
National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the chat group appeared to be authentic.
Reacting to the leak, Trump said he did not “know anything about it” and instead launched an attack on the magazine.
“I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business,” he said.
Berating European allies
Trump and his cabinet have often berated Europe for relying too much on the U.S. for security and have urged NATO’s European members to increase defense spending.
This has raised fears in Europe that the U.S. may be retreating from its longstanding role as the continent’s security guarantor, a position it has held since World War II.
According to media reports, Washington is also mulling scaling down American military presence in the region.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the number of U.S. troops in Europe has fluctuated between around 75,000 and 105,000, with some 63,000 permanently stationed while others rotate in and out.
While Trump has moved swiftly to end the three-year-long war in Ukraine, with U.S. officials launching separate talks with Moscow and Kyiv, Europe has thus far been excluded from the peace discussions.
Washington’s call for concessions has also raised fears among Kyiv’s European allies that the U.S. might push for a deal in Ukraine that likely favors Russia, potentially emboldening Moscow to pursue further aggression in the region.
‘Safeguards must be put in place’
The leak has sparked bipartisan outrage over the handling of classified information.
Mike Lawler, a Republican lawmaker, said: “Classified information should not be transmitted on unsecured channels—and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period.
“Safeguards must be put in place to ensure this never happens again.”
Administration officials are reportedly debating whether to remove Waltz from his position following the “reckless” mistake that led to Goldberg’s access to the chat.
A source close to the White House told Politico: “Half of them [are] saying he’s never going to survive or shouldn’t survive.”
Under U.S. law, it can be a crime to mishandle, misuse or abuse classified information, though it is unclear whether those provisions might have been breached in this case.
