In a conversation that should have been confidential, JD Vance and other senior American officials were very critical and spoke of maneuvers against Europe. Problem, the discussion leaked after an error on their part.
This is an error that discredits the Trump administration. The editor -in -chief of the American magazine The AtlanticJeffrey Goldberg revealed that he had been invited to join a discussion loop between members of the US government and senior national security officials on signal messaging. Exchanges that should have been held on the secure channels of the government and to which he should never have had access.
Present in this group of 18 people, alongside the American vice-president JD Vance, of the defense secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA director John Ratcliffe or the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, the journalist was able to follow discussions relating to American military operations against the Houthis rebels in Yemen, but also withdrawn comments And reveal certain statements by American leaders against other world powers, a supporting photo. Critics have not been directed against China, a direct competitor of the United States to occupy the place of first world power, or even against Russia with whom relations are warming in the margins of negotiations at the end of the war in Ukraine, but against Europe.
Europe described as “pathetic”
The diatribes are signed by the American vice-president and the defense secretary. The active members of the discussion mentioned the possibility of making Europe pay the American protection of the maritime routes located in the Red Sea. These routes controlled by the Yemeni Houthi rebels are very strategic for world trade and are used by the United States, but especially by Europe. The attacks carried out in mid-March against the Houthis by the United States therefore served the two countries, a maneuver that has not delighted JD Vance: “I simply hate to bail out Europe again,” said the American vice-president on the signal loop according to a screenshot shared by the editor-in-chief of chief of chief The Atlantic.
A position that other senior US officials share. “I fully share your aversion to European profiteers. It’s pathetic,” said Pete Hegseth in the wake of the vice-president. The national security advisor of the White House, for its part, has not added to the criticisms made against Europe, but assured that the government works in a way of “compiling the associated costs and [de] impose them on Europeans “. So much information which for the continuation of good relations, already altered, between the United States and Europe would have made it better to remain confidential.
The anti-European feeling of JD Vance is not a novelty. The American vice-president has already launched several attacks against European democracies during his speech at the Munich Conference on February 14, accusing them of turning from their values. The statements were considered by the head of European foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, attempted to “cause a fight” between the United States and Europe.
This time, the American vice-president alignments with a previous position by Donald Trump which consists in saying that US intervention and military aid is essential for Europe. The tenant of the White House even threatened to leave NATO judging that Europe did not invest enough in its defense and counted on the American force. Since twenty-seven have been organized to strengthen their defense. Europe has not yet reacted to the words of JD Vance.