Downing Street has hit back at senior allies of Donald Trump’ after a leaked group chat revealed top US officials had accused Europe of “pathetic freeloading” in the Middle East.
A journalist caused a storm on Monday after revealing he had been accidentally added to a group conversation between the US president’s top team on Signal – and suddenly became privy to state secrets.
The cabinet members revealed details of their plans to launch airstrikes on Yemen to deter Houthi rebels from attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea with links to Israel.
According to the reporter involved, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, vice president JD Vance also decided to take a pop at the continent when messaging defence secretary Pete Hegseth about the air strikes.
Vance said: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Hegseth then replied three minutes later, saying: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
The exchange – which has been verified by the US’s National Security Council – soon went viral.
Asked about the comments on Tuesday, Keir Starmer’s official spokesman rejected the suggestion that the UK and its European allies do not pull their weight when it comes to international security.
He said: “You can see from the way in which the UK has worked closely with the US for a long time our commitment to working with the US on matters of regional security.
“We’ll continue to work with the US and other allies to ensure security and stability in the Middle East.”
He also pointed out that the RAF had provided air-to-air refuelling for the jets involved in the strikes on Yemen, too.
The spokesman also insisted that all classified information held by the UK government “has to be communicated across appropriate secure systems”, which do not include Signal.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the intelligence leaks showed Trump’s White House “can’t be trusted to take even the most basic steps to keep its own intelligence safe”.
He continued: “Their fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to security means 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.
“As a matter of urgency, the government must comprehensively review our intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US.”
Meanwhile, former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, claimed on X that the messages were “another wake up call for a real European defence”, adding: “When will EU leaders act?”
Vance already attracted Europe’s ire after he made a 20-minute speech in February claiming Europe was suppressing free speech and blaming the continent for mass migration.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the time that Vance was “trying to pick a fight” with Europe, while German defence minister Boris Pistorius said it was “not acceptable”.
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