America and its NATO allies ‘remain on a collision course’ after bombshell leaked text messages revealed that Donald Trump’s top security officials branded Europe as ‘pathetic’ and ‘free-loading’, military experts have warned.
Team Trump has come under fire today after it emerged that secret exchanges on the messaging app Signal were mistakenly sent to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
The chat, which appears to have served as a virtual war room for some of the top White House players, saw Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confess that they ‘hate bailing Europe out’.
Military experts have now warned that Washington is ‘frustrated’ at Europe for ‘not taking more ownership of security issues’ and urge NATO allies to evaluate their defence spending.
‘It is essential that Europe recognise that Team Trump overall believes NATO is over-relying on the US to protect what the Trump White House chiefly believes are European national security interests,’ Mark Toth and Jon Sweet told MailOnline today.
‘The substantial US budgetary outlays that Team Trump is determined to redirect back to meet the domestic needs of the US economy. Europe, in that vein, would be wise to hit Trump’s initial 5 per cent GDP target for NATO member-state defense spending in as short of a timeframe as possible.’
European Parliament member Wouter Beke echoed the warning, claiming that ‘for too long’ the European Union has been ‘at ease under the safety umbrella by the US’.
‘A strong and resilient EU with more investments in defence is necessary,’ he said, adding that it would ‘strengthen the EU pillar within NATO and subsequently also the US in the long term’.
America and its NATO allies ‘remain on a collision course’ after bombshell leaked text messages revealed that Donald Trump’s top security officials branded Europe as ‘pathetic’ and ‘free-loading’, military experts have warned (file photo)
The chat, which appears to have served as a virtual war room for some of the top White House players, saw Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth call Europe ‘pathetic’ and ‘free-loading’. Hegseth is pictured in the Oval Office with President Trump on March 21, 2025
The leaked text messages have revealed that there is a ‘growing and disconcerting narrative’ amongst White House officials that ‘Europe is not doing its fair share’.
‘Intentionally leaked by Team Trump or not – and we think not – the US and its European NATO allies remain on a collision course,’ Toth and Sweet said of the texts, which they referred to as the ‘Signal fiasco’.
‘Team Trump is increasingly becoming frustrated with Europe not taking more ownership of security issues – especially those that primarily or disproportionately affect London and Brussels.’
The military experts warned that Europe will have to take these messages into account going forward and encouraged them to follow Poland’s lead of defence spending.
‘Poland, presently, stands out as a model state to Team Trump. Europe would be well-advised to collectively emulate their approach,’ they said.
However, Beke, who sits on the EP’s Foreign Affairs & Security and Defence committees, says that despite the ‘difficulties with the new administration, we still believe in a strong EU-US and therefore also EU-NATO relationship’.
‘It is however absolutely true that Europe should work on its strategic autonomy and has some work to do when it comes to investing in its own security,’ he told MailOnline today.
Experts warn the leaked text messages (pictured) have revealed that there is a ‘growing and disconcerting narrative’ amongst White House officials that ‘Europe is not doing its fair share’
He also hit back at the remarks made by Team Trump, claiming the messages demonstrate that ‘some officials don’t have a good understanding of global trade’ or the ‘necessity of a stable international order’.
‘It’s in the best interest of both our economies to have safe maritime routes all over the world since our economies are highly intertwined,’ he said, adding that ‘it doesn’t surprise me Europe is once again the scapegoat’.
‘Instead of pursuing a better reciprocal beneficiary relationship with the EU, some officials within the Trump administration are so deep into the ‘America First’ ideology that they are unable to see the perverse effects,’ Beke added.
Mārtiņš Staķis, another MEP who sits on the Committee on Security and Defence, says the text messages ‘won’t drastically change relations’ between the US and its European allies.
‘The current US administration has already signaled that European security is no longer its top priority. Europe must be ready to defend itself,’ Staķis said.
He also responded to Hegseth’s name-calling, alleging his remarks are disrespectful to European forces who fought alongside American troops.
‘European countries have always been a reliable ally to the US in times of need. After 9/11, Europe was a crucial force in the US-led coalition against terrorism,’ he told MailOnline. ‘Calling Europe ‘freeloaders’ is an insult to the European soldiers who were wounded or gave their lives.’
Soldiers of the Lithuanian Land Force participate in the Allied Spirit 25 military exercise at the U.S. 7th Army Training Command Joint Multinational Readiness Center on March 12, 2025 near Hohenfels, Germany
It was reported Monday night that senior American officials, including the defence secretary and national security adviser, texted plans for an attack on Yemen to a group chat on messaging app Signal that had accidentally included a journalist.
The chat appears to have served as a virtual war room for some of the top players in the Trump White House, including Vance, Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The conversation was initially centred around the military strikes against Houthi strongholds in Yemen, which started after the Houthis threatened to begin targeting ‘Israeli’ ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip.
In the chats, the user identified as Vance expresses concerns about the strikes but ultimately agrees to go along with Hegseth’s plan – before adding ‘I just hate bailing Europe out again.’
Hegseth responds: ‘I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.’
Insiders warn that Waltz is facing the sack over the saga – as he’s believed to have been the official who ‘added the editor-in-chief to the group’.
‘Everyone in the White House can agree on one thing: Mike Waltz is a f***ing idiot,’ one source told Politico.
According to The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, the messages featured information that could easily have been weaponised by enemies of the US to harm their personnel and assets.
Goldberg wrote: ‘The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility.
‘What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing.’
Several Trump administration’s top intelligence officials will face Congress this week to offer their first testimony in office about the threats facing the US and tackle urgent questions about the security breach. FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe (pictured left to right) are among the witnesses appearing today before the Senate panel
The chats were confirmed as legitimate by the US government but a White House spokesperson said it was a ‘demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials’.
The National Security Council has also said the text chain ‘appears to be authentic.’
Several Trump administration’s top intelligence officials will face Congress this week to offer their first testimony in office about the threats facing the US and tackle urgent questions about the security breach.
Ratcliffe, Gabbard, and FBI Director Kash Patel are among the witnesses who will appear Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee in back-to-back hearings.
The hearings are also unfolding against the backdrop of a starkly different approach toward Russia following years of Biden administration sanctions over its war against Ukraine.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call with President Trump to an immediate pause in strikes against energy infrastructure in what the White House described as the first step in a ‘movement to peace.’
