MPs voiced fury today after an extraordinary security bungle revealed some of President Donald Trump’s most senior team condemning Europe as ‘pathetic freeloaders’.
A bombshell exchange on the Signal messaging app – accidentally shared with a journalist – showed an elite group including Vice-President JD Vance, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Michael Waltz voicing ‘loathing’ for their long-term European allies.
They also discussed how to get money out of European countries in return for US military strikes intended to stop Houthis rebels disrupting critical shipping routes in the Red Sea.
But UK politicians said the glimpse behind the scenes showed America was ‘unreliable’ and accused them of plotting ‘extortion’. One normally US-friendly MP described the situation as a ‘nightmare’ and warned Europe must ‘take it seriously and not think it’s just casual chat’.
The brutal barbs in the conversation underline the gaps that have opened up between the US and Europe since Mr Trump returned to the White House – which appear to go far wider than the fate of Ukraine.
Bizarrely, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the confidential chat.
Mr Goldberg revealed it contained a large volume of highly classified information, publishing details of the conversation on Monday.
The chat appears to have served as a virtual ‘War Room’ for some of the top players in the Trump White House, as well as Mr Vance, Mr Hegseth and Mr Waltz the list included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and Mr Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The conversation was initially centred around the military strikes against the Houthis’ strongholds in Yemen, which started after the armed group threatened to begin targeting ‘Israeli‘ ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip.
In the chats, the user identified as Mr Vance expresses concerns about the strikes but ultimately agrees to go along with defence secretary Mr Hegseth‘s plan – before adding ‘I just hate bailing Europe out again.’
Mr Hegseth responds: ‘I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC.’
The secret Signal messages were mistakenly sent to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic magazine
In the the leaked exchanges US Vice-President JD Vance is seen to remark: ‘I just hate bailing Europe out again’
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told the user standing-in for JD Vance: ‘I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC’
MPs warned that the exchange showed the US administration was ‘deeply unreliable’
There are claims that Mr Waltz is facing the sack over the saga – as he’s believed to have been the official who ‘added the editor-in-chief to the group’.
One source told Politico: ‘Everyone in the White House can agree on one thing: Mike Waltz is a f***ing idiot.’
According to Mr Goldberg, the messages featured information that could easily have been weaponised by enemies of the US to harm their personnel and assets. He 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 U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.’
The chats were confirmed as legitimate by the US government, but a White House spokesman said it was a ‘demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials’.
Asked by about the leaked messages, the President Trump told reporters at the White House overnight that he hadn’t seen The Atlantic story – before attacking the publication.
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.’
The group chat was accidentally shared with Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine
Asking by reporters about the leaked messages, the US President on Monday told reporters at the White House he hadn’t seen The Atlantic story revealing the details of the group chat
Former Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton responded to news of the leaked messages on X, saying ‘You have got to be kidding me’
Defence minister Luke Pollard suggested people would face disciplinary proceedings in the UK for a similar breach of operational security – although he stressed, he was not making a judgment on the US situation.
Giving evidence to the Commons Defence Committee he said: ‘The Ministry of Defence has very clear policies in relation to what information can be shared and the format in which it can be shared. We don’t comment on how allies share their information.’
He added: ‘I’m confident that we have robust measures to safeguard our information and our data, but we also have a very clear set of systems where individuals don’t follow procedures, with sufficient consequences to reflect the actions that have been taken.’
Mr Pollard said there would be ‘a clear consequence and disciplinary process for anyone that was not following those procedures’.
Meanwhile, former Conservative defence secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘I agree Europe must do more on security – but Sir Keir Starmer should remind USA the UK led from the front.
‘I authorised four RAF strikes on the Houthis & the Royal Navy defended Red Sea shipping. Our forces risked their lives to protect trade. Some in DC need reminding.
Lib Dem MP Mike Martin, an Afghanistan veteran and defence committee member, posted on X: ‘US Vice President and Secretary of Defence loathe Europe (as they try to extort money out of it).
‘I wonder how much more evidence the UK government needs that Trump et al are deeply unreliable and we need to pivot towards Europe.’
One senior Tory MP, a long-term ‘Atlanticist’, told MailOnline that the situation was a ‘nightmare’.
‘I think Europe needs to take it seriously and not think it’s just casual chat,’ they said.
The MP said it appeared to confirm the ‘hatred’ of Europe at the top level of the Trump administration, but voiced hope that the wider government still had a grip of the country’s real interests.
‘The military leaders will have an opinion based on strategic importance, and Congress won’t let them run mad,’ they added.
Former Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton responded to news of the leaked messages on X, saying ‘You have got to be kidding me’.
However, the exchanges do suggest differences of opinion between some of the best-known figures in the current administration.
In the exchanges, the user identified as ‘JD Vance’ wrote that ‘Andy baker for VP’ was representing him.
That is presumably a reference to Andrew Baker, a national security advisor who has played a key role in shaping Mr Vance’s foreign policy positions, especially his opposition to US aid to Ukraine and his scepticism of NATO.
Messages from the Vance account advise against a military strike in Yemen.
‘Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake,’ the Vance user stated to the group.
‘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,’ the Vance user continued.
The military strike against the Houthis, the team argued, was necessary to keep shipping lanes open on the Red Sea, as the insurgents were targeting ships.
Mr Vance’s account expressed concerns about the timing of the proposed operation, warning of oil prices spiking as a result.
‘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.’
A US ship fires a missile after US President Donald Trump, in a post on social media, vowed to ‘use overwhelming lethal force’ against the Houthis
A plume of smoke billows during a US strike on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa early on March 16, 2025
The Vance user said that he would remain publicly silent about his concerns but expressed them to the team.
‘I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But 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 said.
Vance’s communications director William Martin said the vice president remained aligned with Trump’s decision but wanted to make sure he was properly briefed by his advisors.
‘The Vice President’s first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations,’ he said in a statement.
‘Vice-President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.’
In the chat, the Hegseth user said he understood Mr Vance’s concerns and urged him to raise them with the president but argued for immediate action.
‘We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should,’ he wrote.
The Walz user also said the United States would have to act and reminded Vance that ‘Per the president’s request we are working with DOD and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.’
US aircrafts taking off from aircraft carrier as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces carry out precision airstrikes kicking off a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi targets across Yemen
‘If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again,’ the Vance user replied.
The SM user, identified in the article as Trump’s advisor Steve Miller, reminded the group about the president’s goal.
‘As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return,’ he wrote.
Trump ultimately ordered the strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen over the weekend from his club at Mar-a-Lago in a successful mission.
The relationship between Trump and his European counterparts has been one of wariness and conflict even before the real estate mogul was sworn in as the 47th president.
The US leader’s team told European officials in December that the bloc would have to more than double its spending target of 2 per cent – a target which over a quarter of its members were on course to fail to meet.
Trump called for European nations to up their military budgets to 5 per cent of GDP – far higher than the US’s own defence spending.
The two-term president also said in February 2024 that he would encourage Russia to do ‘whatever the hell they want’ with any of the 32 NATO member states who failed to meet such ambitious defence spending targets.
President Trumps close advisor Elon Musk has consistenly called for the US to leave NATO
However, even back in Mr Trump’s first term there were multiple signs that the real estate mogul was ready to resort to more drastic measures.
Senior officials in the first Trump administration said that their boss spoke numerous times in private over the course of 2018 about his desire to withdraw from NATO, The New York Times reported.
While he has so far avoided actively calling for the US to exit the North Atlantic alliance, that position is one favoured by several close members of his team including DOGE head honcho Elon Musk and Utah senator Mike Lee.
Vice-President Vance had some European ministers in tears back in February after he argued that free speech and democratic institutions were being eroded across the continent in an address to the Munich Security Conference.
He accused European politicians of forcing people to shut down social media accounts and urged leaders to do more to stem illegal immigration.
Mr Vance reserved particular scorn for the UK, citing the case of a British man arrested after praying near an abortion clinic.
‘Europe faces many challenges, but the crisis this continent faces right now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own making,’ he said.
‘If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump.’
JD Vance had some European ministers in tears back in February after he argued that free speech and democratic institutions were being eroded across the European continent in an address to leaders at the Munich Security Conference
President Trump’s brinkmanship over the Ukraine-Russia conflict has also been a source of consternation for European leaders.
After initially claiming that he would stop the war on his first day in office, that timeline was quickly extended – with tempers flaring on several occasions.
Last month Mr Trump called Ukarine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator’ when speaking at a Saudi-backed investment meeting in Florida after talks between the US and Ukrainian president broke down following Mr Trump’s insistence on including mineral rights in any prospective deal – but without the promise of a security guarantee for Ukraine.
But only a week later, when asked about that comment, Mr Trump glibly told reporters in the Oval Office: ‘Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question.’
However, things took an even more calamitous turn for the worse following Mr Zelensky’s dramatic bust-up with President Trump and Mr Vance in the Oval Office.
While European leaders have sought to mend bridges between the two sides, there is no question that this in the most fractured the Euro-US alliance has been in decades.