TRUMP’S top team has launched an astonishing broadside against America’s European Allies – branding them “pathetic free-loaders” in leaked messages mistakenly sent to a journalist.
The private Signal chat, used as a virtual war room by Trump’s national security heavyweights, was accidentally shared with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who published the explosive texts.
ReutersUS Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were in the leaked group chat[/caption]
AFPPresident Trump said he didn’t know anything about the leak[/caption]
GettyJeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the Atlantic magazine, revealed he was included in a messaging chain[/caption]
EPAIn the chat, Trump’s aides slammed America’s European allies as ‘pathetic freeloaders’[/caption]
Don’s aides also vented their “loathing” for bailing out the continent in the bombshell leak at the heart of the Trump White House.
In the exchange, Vice President JD Vance grumbled: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
The disclosure reveals the degree of contempt within the Trump administration for Europe’s contribution to global defense, with Ukraine at the centre of escalating transatlantic tensions.
Other messages saw officials wrangle over US strikes against Houthis in Yemen, with Vance warning they risked clashing with Trump’s hardline stance on Europe.
“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” he wrote.
“There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices.”
Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz, who reportedly added Goldberg to the chat, is now facing the sack – with one insider telling Politico: “Everyone in the White House can agree on one thing: Mike Waltz is a f***ing idiot.”
And Trump adviser Steve Miller reminded the group that the president had made clear: “Green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return.”
The leak has triggered a political firestorm – not only over the shocking tone toward key allies but over the blunder that exposed the US’s inner military and diplomatic strategy to a journalist.
The private Signal group included some of the most powerful figures in Trump’s administration: Vance, Hegseth, Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and adviser Steve Miller.
The messages were mistakenly sent to The Atlantic’s Goldberg, who revealed on Monday that he had been added to the high-level group chat.
According to Goldberg, the group shared highly classified information, including operational details of US strikes in Yemen – such as targets, weapons being used, and sequencing of the attacks.
He warned that had adversaries gained access to the chat, it could have “conceivably been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East.”
Goldberg wrote: “The Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
The Signal group had been created to coordinate a response to escalating threats from Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, who were preparing to resume attacks on Israeli-linked ships amid the Gaza blockade.
In the chat, Vance raised concerns about launching strikes, arguing the public wouldn’t understand them and that the move risked being out of step with Trump’s Europe messaging.
“There is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc,” he wrote.
But he ultimately added: “I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself.”
Hegseth replied: “We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should.”
Despite the objections, Trump signed off on the military action from Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, the Daily Mail reports.
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