‘Hate Bailing Them Out’: In Leaked Chat, JD Vance, Hegseth Said They Loathe ‘Freeloading Europeans’
US Vice President JD Vance said that ‘he hates bailing out Europe’ because the airstrikes if successful could stop attacks on the Red Sea shipping lanes.
The leaked Yemen airstrikes group chat was not just a case of a wrong message sent to a wrong person but also ended up showing how the US views its ally Europe.
The White House confirmed that the messages, mistakenly sent to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, and detailed in his March 24 report, appear to be authentic.
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Goldberg was added to the Signal group where US Vice President JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, director of US national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was present and discussing airstrikes on Yemen, a civil-war battered nation.
A report by the Economist pointed out that the Trump administration’s contempt for its European allies was on full display.
On March 14, the Trump administration moved forward with plans to bomb the Houthis after the group warned they would start attacking ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab, a key waterway leading to the Suez Canal. The Houthis claimed they were responding to Israel blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. In the past months, their attacks had already forced many ships to take a longer route around Africa.
In a Signal group chat, Vance raised concerns about the planned strikes, pointing out that European countries relied on trade through the Suez Canal much more than the US did.
“I just hate bailing Europe out again," Vance said.
To this, Hegseth replied: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger)".
Then, “S. M." who is believed to be Stephen Miller, wrapped up the discussion, confirming that Trump had approved the strikes. However, “S. M." stressed the need to clarify what the US expected in return from Egypt and Europe for carrying out the operation.
“If the U.S. successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost, there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return," “S.M." said.
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