Waiting for the Trump years to end while hoping for the best is no longer viable
The divulgence of sensitive operational intelligence about the American offensive against the Houthis in Yemen on 15 March – in which, inadvertently, the whole battle plan was given to the editor of The Atlantic – has been dismissed by President Trump as “a glitch”. There were no threats to security and, anyway, The Atlantic is a failing publication, he claimed.
Furthermore, the man who was hosting the group chat on the Signal channel, Mike Waltz the National Security Adviser, “has learnt a lesson, and he’s a good man.” There is to be no further action.
The discussion covered details of targeting, surveillance and intelligence, and disposition of forces. It was a breach of the fundamentals of operational security. The recipient, The Atlantic’s Jeff Goldberg, is in no doubt how damaging this information could be in the wrong hands: “It could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility.”
SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 17: Thousands of people gather in Al-Sabeen Square in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, led by the Houthis, to protest against the attacks on the country, on March 17, 2025 in Yemen. Yemenis also reacted to the ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip by chanting slogans. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Thousands of people gather in Al-Sabeen Square in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, led by the Houthis, to protest against the attacks on the country (Photo: Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Much of the chat, especially that between Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, dwelt on how much of a favour this was doing for European and regional allies such as Egypt. They had four times the shipping than America using the Suez Canal and Red Sea, the maritime choke point targeted by the Houthis.
Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff to Trump, insists that “there needs to be some economic gain extracted in return.” Earlier, Vance blurts: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.” Hegseth replies: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
Reaction from allies in Britain and Europe has been surprisingly muted. Members of the Starmer Government, such as Angela Rayner, speaking on BBC Radio 4, said the UK and America would still be close – and anyway people often say extreme things in the privacy of an online chatroom.
Lord Darroch, former UK security adviser and ambassador to Washington – also on Radio 4 – adopted a resigned tone. Britain was too deeply involved with the USA in intelligence and co-operation in nuclear weaponry. Besides, in intelligence co-operation, the UK consumed more product from Washington that it gave in return.
This approach – of resignation and complacency towards the wild meanderings of the Trump team in foreign affairs and intelligence – seems unwarranted, and positively dangerous. Two months into the second Trump term, there is a pattern emerging.
First there is the disdain for allies – Canada, Denmark, Panama, and Nato as a whole. Second, there is the antipathy of the intelligence and operational security interests of allies – which must include Britain – and even of Trump’s own agencies.
FILE PHOTO: November 22, 1993 will mark the 30th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally ride through Dallas moments before Kennedy was assassinated, November 22, 1963/File Photo
The release ordered by the President of tens of thousands of documents into the investigation of John F Kennedy in 1963 has caused huge embarrassment to the CIA (Photo: Reuters)
The release ordered by the President of 30,000 pages of documents into the investigation of the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963 has caused huge embarrassment to the CIA. It has revealed, in detail, the operations of the CIA in Latin America and the surveillance methods and tradecraft employed in tracking Lee Harvey Oswald’s attempts to contact Soviet agents in Mexico and Cuba. Much of this methodology is still current. Mention of a secret CIA presence in Tunisia still has resonance.
Some fear the embarrassment caused to the intelligence agency, and the naming of methods, locations and agents, has been deliberately aimed at an organisation Trump has regarded as less than on his side.
This should worry allies like the UK. So, too, should the strange manoeuvrings on the information front by the Trump White House and its key players. On more than one occasion they adopt the talking points from Moscow on Ukraine and European security. Before the latest round of talks in Riyadh about Ukraine, special envoy Steve Witkoff – former real estate developer and Trump golfing buddy – spoke of the upcoming talks to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson in almost confessional mode.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (2nd L) shakes hands with US politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he invites him former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (R) and US commentator Tucker Carlson onto the stage during a campaign rally at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, on October 23, 2024. (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump (2nd L) shakes hands with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he invites him former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (R) and US commentator Tucker Carlson on to the stage in Georgia (Photo: Christian Monterrosa/AFP)
He said that he “liked” Vladimir Putin. “I don’t regard Putin as bad guy. He’s super smart.”
He also supported Russia’s claim to the four fully or partly occupied oblasts (provinces) of Ukraine – although he couldn’t name them, and used the Russian term “Lugansk”’ for one of them – because he supported the confected referendums the Russians had held there.
He also described Ukraine as “a false country” – which is what psychologists call a “tell” in interrogations, a giveaway. Talking of Canada, Donald Trump uses the same terminology – “it’s not a real country.”
The pattern of behaviour should make all allies of America think again, and be more wary about sharing confidences and intelligence. Soundings across the Whitehall and defence establishments these past few days have shown little inclination to wake up and smell the aroma of the coffee coming from Trumpland. “We are too deeply involved for much to change quickly,” said one senior figure. “We have to wait 22 months and then Trump won’t have full control of the three arms of power.”
By then the US could have broken Nato, betrayed Ukraine and snuggled up to Russia.
In the early days when black and white televisions went on the blink, a voice would say, “temporary fault, do not adjust your set”. The new Trump pattern of behaviour may not be temporary. For Britain and its allies, Canada and Europe especially, it is time to adjust your set – behind closed doors, and out of chatroom earshot.
Robert Fox is a defence expert and war correspondent who has reported from the Falklands, Middle East, Afghanistan and the Balkans