America's allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans
[March 26, 2025]
By JILL LAWLESS, EMMA BURROWS and NICHOLAS RICCARDI
LONDON (AP) — As wake-up calls go, the alarms don’t get much louder.
Allies of the United States see the group chat between top U.S.
officials about a planned attack in Yemen that accidentally included a
journalist as a jaw-dropping security breach which casts doubt on
intelligence-sharing with Washington and the security of joint military
operations.
“Scary” and “reckless” was the verdict of one European diplomat about
the discussion on the Signal messaging app about strikes on Houthi
rebels. Neil Melvin, a security expert at defense think tank the Royal
United Services Institute, called it “pretty shocking.”
“It’s some of the most high-ranking U.S. officials seeming to display a
complete disregard for the normal security protocols,” he said.
Beyond the security concerns raised by the leaked chat, U.S. officials
addressed the country's trans-Atlantic allies with disdain as Vice
President JD Vance complained about “bailing out” Europe and Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “pathetic” European “freeloading.”
The criticism is another blow to a long-standing relationship already
strained by President Donald Trump’s blunt “America First” approach and
disregard for friendly nations.
Melvin said that for America’s allies, “the alarm clock’s been ringing
for a long time.”
In public, however, European officials insisted all was well in the
trans-Atlantic relationship.
“We have a very close relationship with the U.S. on matters of security,
defense and intelligence,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s
spokesman, Dave Pares. “They are our closest ally when it comes to these
matters, have been for many years and will be for many years to come.”
France’s Foreign Ministry said “the United States is our ally, and
France intends to continue its cooperation with Washington, as well as
with all its allies and European partners, in order to address current
challenges — particularly in the area of European security.”
A growing divide
Since taking office, the Trump administration has halted government
funding for programs that support democratic principles around the world
and presented a less welcoming face to visitors.
U.S. embassies in at least 17 countries have posted warnings for
would-be travelers that engaging in behavior deemed harmful by the
government could get them deported. Several European countries have
issued warnings about visiting the United States after international
tourists were caught up in Trump’s border crackdown.
Trump has appalled allies with his repeatedly stated aim of taking over
Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory that Vance and second lady
Usha Vance are due to visit this week — and his desire to make Canada
the 51st state.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country has to “take
greater ownership” of its own defense in the face of threats: “We have
to look out for ourselves.”
Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European parliament, told the BBC that
she was “flabbergasted” by the breach.
“If I was (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, I would feel jobless.
Russia has nothing more to do. … You don’t even need to spy on the U.S.
administration. They leak by themselves,” she said.
U.S. reliability questioned
The European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
sensitive matters, suggested the security breach could make allies
question the reliability of the U.S. as a partner.
The diplomat expressed hope that the Signal lapse was due to a lack of
experience in government rather than a deliberate disregard for
security.
Asked if he had concerns about sharing intelligence with the U.S. after
the Signal incident, Carney said “it’s a serious, serious issue and all
lessons must be taken.” He said it would be important to see "how people
react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up.”
Britain could be particularly exposed by U.S. security breaches. Its
intelligence network is entwined with the U.S. in the Five Eyes
alliance, and the countries’ militaries work more closely than those of
almost any other nations.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prepares to give a television
interview outside the White House, Friday, March 21, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Britain's Royal Air Force provided air-to-air refueling for U.S.
planes during the strike on the Houthis, but U.K. Armed Forces
Minister Luke Pollard insisted British personnel had not been put at
risk by the breach.
“We’ve got high confidence that the measures that we have got with
our allies, including the United States, remain intact,” he told
lawmakers.
Ed Davey, the leader of Britain’s opposition Liberal Democrats, said
the lapse showed the Trump administration can't be trusted to
protect its own intelligence and "it could only be a matter of time
until our own intelligence shared with them is also leaked.”
“This could put British lives at risk," he said.
Alex Clarkson, a lecturer in European and international studies at
King’s College London, said “the professionals and old hands” who
“contained the damage” during Trump’s first term are largely gone.
“So what we’re having now is … a manifestation of tendencies that
were held in check that we already saw in the first round,” he said.
American frustration
The U.S. has underpinned European security since World War II, and
Trump is not the first president to bristle at the burden.
“From the Obama administration (onward), there’s been quite some
frustrations in the U.S. security apparatus about the failure of the
Europeans … to step up,” Melvin said.
Trump has gone much further than his predecessors in upending the
decades-old security arrangements. He has long contended the U.S.
needs to completely rethink its relationship with the rest of the
world, saying other countries have been “taking advantage” of the
nation’s military might by not paying enough for their own defense.
Trump has praised autocrats including Putin and sent chills through
NATO during last year’s election campaign with his comment that
Russia should “do whatever the hell it wants” to members that don’t
meet military spending targets.
“There’s a real sense of divorce, that America is not just
disinterested in the trans-Atlantic alliance but views Europe
fundamentally as an adversary,” said Max Bergmann, a former State
Department official who now works at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
“It’s very clear at this point, abundantly clear, that it will be
next to impossible to count on the United States for the cause of
defending democracy in the world,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora,
secretary-general of the pro-democracy group International IDEA.
NATO leaders point out that Trump’s criticism and the war in Ukraine
have led to a majority of member states meeting the target of
spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Trump’s reelection and rapprochement with Putin has hastened
European military plans, with nations scrambling to ramp up weapons
production and create their own security structures – including a
U.K.- and France-led “coalition of the willing” to help guarantee a
future ceasefire in Ukraine.
Clarkson said Europe has more strength than many give it credit for,
and severing the trans-Atlantic bond would hurt the U.S., too.
“One shouldn’t underestimate European military industrial capacity,”
he said. “There are all kinds of things that can go wrong … but
there is an element here also that the Americans are awakening a
sleeping giant.”
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Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Ali Swenson
in New York, Chris Megerian in Washington. John Leicester in Paris
and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.
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