US Vice President JD Vance allegedly questioned Donald Trump’s decision to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. The US has carried out a series of strikes in recent days against the rebels, who pose threats to maritime trade in the region and Israel.
However, Vance appeared to question Trump’s policy in an exchange of messages on the Signal chat app with other White House officials. The messages were published by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Magazine, after he was seemingly added to the chat group by White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz by mistake. The US Vice President allegedly said military action was “a mistake”.
He allegedly claimed that Houthi forces in Yemen posed a larger threat to European shipping, while the danger to American trade was minimal.
In the published excerpts of the Signal messages, an account labelled JD Vance writes: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.
“3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary.
“The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
The account labelled JD Vance then adds: “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.
“There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself.
“But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
The leaking of the conversation involving national security has produced a furious backlash from US politicians.
Senator Mark Warner posted on his X social media account: “This administration is playing fast and loose with our nation’s most classified info, and it makes all Americans less safe.”
Senator Warner is from Virginia and is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Democratic congressman Chris Deluzio said in a press statement that the House Armed Services Committee, on which he sits, must conduct a full investigation and hearing on the matter as soon as possible. “This is an outrageous national security breach, and heads should roll,” he said.
Hours after the leak was made public, the White House issued a statement on X, denying “war plans were discussed” and that classified material was sent to the thread. The statement also read: “The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump’s top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible. As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread. Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump.”