LONDON — 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^[1] 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^[2]. 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^[3] 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^[4] 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^[5] — an autonomous Danish territory that Vance and second lady Usha Vance^[6] are due to visit this week — and his desire to make Canada^[7] 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.

US 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.

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.”

___

Riccardi reported from Denver, Colorado. Associated Press writers Ali Swenson in New York, Chris Megerian in Washington. John Leicester in Paris and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.

WASHINGTON — Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”

The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen,^[1] including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.

It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.

Related: Hegseth and Other Top Trump Officials Just Failed OPSEC Jeff^[2]

Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15^[3], the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat.

Trump told reporters he was not aware of the apparent breach in protocol.

“I know nothing about it,” Trump said, adding that The Atlantic was “not much of a magazine.” He went on to say, “I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time.”

Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hacked.

The sharing of sensitive information comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office has just announced a crackdown on leaks^[4] of sensitive information, including the potential use of polygraphs on defense personnel to determine how reporters have received information.

Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Hegseth, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the defense secretary posted war operational plans on an unclassified app.

The handling of national defense information is strictly governed by law under the century-old Espionage Act, including provisions that make it a crime to remove such information from its “proper place of custody” even through an act of gross negligence.

The Justice Department in 2015 and 2016 investigated whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law by communicating about classified information with her aides on a private email server she set up, though the FBI ultimately recommended against charges and none were brought.

In the Biden administration, some officials were given permission to download Signal on their White House-issued phones, but were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the Democratic administration.

The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to communicate what they internally referred to as “tippers” to notify someone when they were away from the office or traveling overseas that they should check their “high side” inbox for a classified message.

The app was sometimes also used by officials during the Biden administration to communicate about scheduling of sensitive meetings or classified phone calls when they were outside the office, the official said.

Ahead of his confirmation hearing Thursday to become assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Keith Bass is facing tough questions from a prominent Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Bass, a retired Navy^[1] commander and substance abuse counselor who previously led the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Medical Services and the White House Medical Unit, was nominated Dec. 22 to manage the Defense Department's $61 billion health system, which serves 9.5 million beneficiaries, including 1.3 million active-duty troops.

The health affairs assistant secretary is responsible for protecting and preserving the health of the armed forces^[2], setting policy, and managing the Pentagon's health budget. He also serves as senior adviser on health issues relevant to beneficiaries for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Read Next: Ride-Sharing Services Finally Coming to Army Installations in Effort to Ease Travel Woes^[3]

But the military health system currently is facing challenges on multiple fronts, including staffing shortages at medical facilities, patient retention issues that have affected provider training and proficiency, and problems within the Tricare^[4] health program that have resulted in delays in patient care and pay^[5]ments to providers.

In a letter to Bass on Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ranking member of the Armed Services personnel subcommittee, questioned whether he is up to the task.

Citing Bass' experiences at the White House and CIA, which were investigated by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General and in media reports for reported mismanagement, Warren said she had concerns that he is "not capable of filling the role."

According to an article in SpyTalk cited by Warren^[6], Bass allegedly was fired as head of the CIA medical office following his mishandling of the investigation into Havana syndrome, also known as anomalous health incidents, that affected more than 330 U.S. State Department, intelligence and defense officials as a result of exposure to painful, piercing noise from an unknown source.

The article also pointed to Bass' alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 response at the agency, "afflicting its rank and file."

Warren also cited a DoD IG report released last January that found that, during Bass' tenure at the White House, civilian staff members who weren't eligible for military health services^[7] -- an average six to 20 patients a week -- received specialty care and surgeries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Fort Belvoir^[8] Community Hospital in Virginia, and elsewhere.

That investigation also found that the unit distributed sedatives including Ambien and stimulants such as Provigil to ineligible beneficiaries, often without a prescription.

Warren asked Bass whether he was aware of "severe and systemic problems" under his watch.

"At best, you were oblivious to the wider distribution of sedatives and stimulants by White House pharmacy operations and, in the worst case, you were complicit. Either scenario should disqualify you from serving as the [assistant secretary of defense for health affairs]," Warren wrote.

In his most recent position, Bass led the West Texas VA Health Care System, overseeing a medical center with an operating budget of $153 million and 1,120 employees, serving 24,000 veterans.

President Donald Trump announced Bass' nomination along with several other Defense Department leaders on Dec. 22, calling them "a slate of America First patriots."

"Keith is a retired Navy commander with over 30 years of health care experience. ... Keith will be leading the charge to ensure our troops are healthy, and receiving the best medical care possible," Trump wrote in an announcement.

Bass' appearance at his nomination hearing will be the first time he has made public statements about his plans for the military health system.

Dr. Stephen Ferrara, a retired Navy interventional radiologist who served as chief medical officer at the CIA, has served as acting assistant secretary for health affairs since January and, since assuming the duty, has traveled throughout the military health system, including a trip to U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay^[9] in Cuba last month.

Ferrara has pledged to ensure that the military health system realigns its efforts to support and provide combat medicine.

"And it's a moral imperative ... when America's sons and daughters go down range and go into harm's way, we honor the pact they make and that their parents made when they sort of handed their children over to us to do those missions that, should they become ill or injured, they will receive prompt and effective medical attention anywhere in the world," Ferrara said during a military health conference March 3^[10].

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear testimony Thursday from three other nominees in addition to Bass: Troy Meink to be Air Force^[11] secretary; Michael Duffey, proposed undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; and Emil Michael as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.

In her letter, sent to Bass via the White House, Warren requested answers to her questions in writing by Wednesday.

"Given your checkered past ... I am concerned that, if you are confirmed, you will not be able to effectively manage the military health care system, placing care at risk for millions. I urge you to demonstrate a commitment to clarity," Warren wrote.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Related: Military Medical System Not Ready for War Due to Cuts and Delayed Reforms, Experts Warn^[12]