The revelation that senior intelligence and defense officials in the U.S. Trump administration discussed details of a military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen on a Signal app group chat, has prompted a variety of reactions across Europe, including an acknowledgment that the scornful tone about Europe that administration officials employed will simply cement a continuing deterioration of trans-Atlantic ties, according to an analysis published by PBS NewsHour
The Signal messages recorded U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz saying that only U.S. — rather than European — naval forces would be able to take military action against the Houthis to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea near Yemen. Vice President Vance then described such action as "bailing Europe out again," before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled Europe's reliance on U.S. military might as "freeloading" that was "pathetic."
Europe has historically leaned heavily on the United States for the support of its military capabilities, including its intelligence gathering, nuclear umbrella and aerial defense weapons systems. The decades-long presence of tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Europe, since the end of World War II, has also played an important deterrent role against possible adversaries that might seek to attack Europe, including Russia.
Yet the criticism in the Signal group chat — which inadvertently included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg — provided a window into normally private policy discussions and political posturing in the Trump administration, which in recent months has also publicly criticized European governments for not just military spending that is lower than in the U.S., but also policymaking decisions linked to culture that are fundamentally different in character from the vision of the current White House.