‘Pathetic European free-loading’: What was said in Trump officials’ group chat
A group chat of top US officials – which a journalist was accidentally added to – discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and fiery critique of “pathetic” Europe.
Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to the “Houthi PC small group” on Signal on Thursday 13 March.
He wrote about what was said in the days that followed in his article The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.
Here’s what we know was said on encrypted messaging service Signal – in a group that included US vice president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Thursday 13 March
This day was seemingly aimed at establishing who would make up the small group.
A message to the group, from Michael Waltz read: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”
The message continued: “Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.”
One minute later, the secretary of state Marco Antonio Rubio wrote: “Mike Needham for State,” apparently designating the current counsellor of the state department as his representative.
JD Vance wrote: “Andy baker for VP.” One minute after that, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, wrote: “Joe Kent for DNI.”
Nine minutes later, treasury secretary Scott Bessent wrote: “Dan Katz for Treasury.”
At 4.53pm Pete Hegseth wrote: “Dan Caldwell for DoD.”
And at 6.34pm, a user called “Brian” wrote “Brian McCormack for NSC.” Someone called “John Ratcliffe” then wrote with the name of a CIA official to be included in the group.
Friday 14 March
At 8.05am, Mr Waltz texted the group: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents [sic] guidance this morning in your high side inboxes,” with “high side” referring to classified computer systems.
“State and DOD [Department of Defence], we developed suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners. Joint Staff is sending this am [morning] a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS [chief of staff], OVP [office of the vice president] and POTUS [president of the United States] are briefed.”
Mr Goldberg says at this point, a “fascinating” policy discussion commenced, during which JD Vance wrote: “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.
“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.”
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At 8.27am, a message arrived from the Pete Hegseth reading: “VP: I understand your concerns – and fully support you raising w/ POTUS. Important considerations, most of which are tough to know how they play out (economy, Ukraine peace, Gaza, etc). I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.
“Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both.
“We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should. This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered. But, we can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC – operations security.
“I welcome other thoughts.”
Later in the conversation, Mr Waltz criticised the limited capabilities of European navies, writing: “Whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes. Per the president’s request we are working with DOD and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.”
Mr Vance addressed Mr Hegseth in a message reading: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Mr Hegseth replied: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”
An account believed to be the deputy White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, then said: “As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”
This was followed by the last text of the day, from Mr Hegseth, who wrote at 9.46am: “Agree.”
Saturday 15 March
At 11.44am, Mr Hegseth posted in Signal a “TEAM UPDATE” – but The Atlantic has not published what was said.
Mr Goldberg wrote in his article: “I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. 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.”
He did say Mr Hegseth had sent lengthy text about how the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours from then, at 1.45pm Eastern Time. He said he waited in his car in a supermarket parking lot, waiting to see if Houthi targets would be bombed.
He said he went on X and searched Yemen at about 1.55pm, when he saw reports of explosions being heard across Sanaa, its capital city.
He said the only person to respond to Mr Hegseth in the morning was Mr Vance, who wrote: “I will say a prayer for victory”, along with two prayer emojis.
Pic: The Atlantic
At 1.48am, Mr Waltz provided an update in the group which Mr Goldberg did not quote in full, but he did say the national security adviser described the operation as an “amazing job”.
John Ratcliffe then wrote: “A good start.”
Mr Goldberg said Mr Waltz responded with three emojis: a fist, an American flag and fire.
Others soon joined in, including Mr Rubio, who wrote, “Good Job Pete and your team!!,” and Susie Wiles, who texted: “Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.”
Mr Witkoff responded with five emojis: two hands-praying, a flexed bicep, and two American flags.
Tulsi Gabbard responded: “Great work and effects!”
Mr Goldberg said the after-action discussion included assessments of damage done, including the likely death of a specific individual – he did not say who.
The US Justice Department has released a transcript of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell – the jailed ex-girlfriend of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell said in the interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month that she never saw US President Donald Trump in an “inappropriate setting”.
According to the transcript, Maxwell said: “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”
Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News
Maxwell also recalled knowing about Mr Trump and possibly meeting him for the first time in 1990, when her newspaper magnate father, Robert Maxwell, was the owner of the New York Daily News.
“I may have met Donald Trump at that time, because my father was friendly with him and liked him very much,” Maxwell said, according to the transcript.
Maxwell said her father was fond of Mr Trump’s then-wife, Ivana, “because she was also from Czechoslovakia, where my dad was from.”
She was sentenced in the US in June 2022 to 20 years in prison following her conviction on five counts of sex trafficking for luring young girls to massage rooms for Epstein to abuse. She has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP
His case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories due to his and Maxwell’s links to famous people like royals, presidents and billionaires, including Mr Trump. No one other than Epstein and Maxwell has been charged with crimes.
Mr Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During Maxwell’s trial in 2021, Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, said Mr Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane several times. Mr Trump has denied flying on the plane.
Maxwell said in her interview with the Justice Department that she never saw Mr Trump receive a massage.
She told Mr Blanche that Mr Trump “was always very cordial and very kind to me”, adding: “And I just want to say that I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now.”
The release of the transcript comes after Mr Trump has faced criticism from Republican supporters and Democrats over his Justice Department’s decision not to release further details relating to Epstein, after the now US president promised to do so during the election.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
The Justice Department previously said a review of the Epstein case had found “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence” the jailed financier had blackmailed famous men.
In the transcript of the department’s interview with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend said that she is not aware of any Epstein ‘client list’.
After her interview in July, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) after she was held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, that housed men and women.
Read more from Sky News:
Tour bus crash kills and injures several people
Trump critic has home raided by the FBI
The Texas camp houses solely female prisoners, the majority of whom are serving time for nonviolent offences and white-collar crimes.
Neither Maxwell’s lawyer nor the BOP gave a reason for the move.
Maxwell’s legal team have maintained that she was wrongly prosecuted and denied a fair trial, and have floated the idea of a pardon from Mr Trump.
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
The president said earlier this month that “nobody” had asked him about pardoning Maxwell, but insisted that he has “the right to do it”.
Mr Trump said: “I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it. I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons, I’ve given pardons to people before, but nobody’s even asked me to do it.”
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A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls has crashed on a major road, killing and injuring multiple people.
The bus, with 52 passengers on board, crashed and rolled on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 30 miles (48km) east of Buffalo, in New York State at around 12.30pm (5.30pm UK time).
“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police. He added that authorities believe one child was among those killed.
Several people inside were thrown from the bus as the windows shattered, while some passengers became trapped in the wreckage.
Some passengers remain trapped in the wreckage of the bus. Pic: Buffalo News/AP
Erie County Medical Centre in Buffalo said it had received 24 patients.
At a news conference, Dr Jennifer Pugh, chief of emergency medicine, said two people had been taken to the operating theatre, one of whom had suffered internal injuries.
Dr Jeffrey Brewer, chief of surgery, said he expected that two patients who had suffered the most serious injuries would recover.
He added that people had been admitted with blunt trauma, head injuries and extremity (arm and leg) fractures.
Mr O’Callahan said most people on the bus were Indian, Chinese, and Filipino, and translators were being brought to the scene. The driver survived and is cooperating with the police.
He added, “It’s a full-size tour bus. Heavy amount of damage. Most people, I’m assuming, on the bus did not have a seat belt on, that is the reason why we have so many ejected people on this bus.”
The Mercy Flight air medical transport service said its three helicopters were transporting people from the crash site to area hospitals.
“It’s a very active scene,” said Mercy Flight president Margaret Ferrentino. “At this time we’re praying for the victims.”
Mr O’Callaghan said the driver, who survived the accident, lost control while the bus was at full speed, causing it to flip when he tried to correct course.
The highway has been closed in both directions, causing massive traffic delays at the onset of one of the last weekends of the summer vacation season.
The falls, which are on the US-Canada border, are a major tourist attraction.
More than nine million visitors explore Niagara Falls State Park annually, according to the official website for the park.
The FBI has raided the home of John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump who has since become a staunch critic of the US president.
The search of Mr Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday was part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records”, reported NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, citing a source.
Mr Bolton has not been detained or apprehended. He served as President Trump’s top security adviser for 17 months during his first term in office, but was forced out of the role in 2019.
President Trump on Friday told reporters in Washington that he’d had no advance knowledge of the raid, adding: “I’m not a fan of John Bolton.”
The US Justice Department is yet to comment but FBI director Kash Patel posted on X on Friday morning, writing: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
An FBI official said in a statement the agency was “conducting court authorized activity in the area”, indicating grounds had been approved for a search warrant.
Mr Trump’s former adviser is yet to respond to enquires for comment. He was not at his home during the early morning raid, CNN reported. He was seen in his Washington DC office on Friday in talks with FBI officials, according to the Associated Press.
FBI members carry boxes outside the home of the former White House national security adviser John Bolton.
Pic: Reuters
US federal authorities are yet to release any detail as to why the search has been conducted and what allegations may be levelled against Mr Bolton.
Unnamed sources told the New York Times that an investigation has been launched into whether Mr Bolton illegally shared or possessed classified information. NBC reported a source saying the probe was looking into potential instances of the documents being leaked to journalists.
During his time as adviser, Mr Bolton had clashed regularly with the president on policy direction over Iran and North Korea. He was viewed as hawkish adviser, and President Trump has previously criticised him as “warmongering”, saying he pushed him to take military action on Iran.
John Bolton listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in April 2018. Pic: AP.
Since leaving the post, Mr Bolton has called the Republican president unfit to serve, and most recently criticised Trump’s actions in Ukraine and negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2020, Mr Bolton also published a memoir of his time in the White House, in which he described multiple instances of what he described as Mr Trump’s misconduct and incompetence in handling foreign policy.
He also alleged that the president often prioritised his own personal interests over national security. Prior to publication, Trump’s government had tried to block the release but failed in its legal bid.
Since his return to office, Trump has on multiple occasions sought to use his presidential powers against perceived political enemies. On his first day back in the White House, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen intelligence officials, including Mr Bolton.
He also cancelled security detail for Mr Bolton and two other former Trump officials earlier this year. The officials had been receiving the federal protection because of threats to their safety from Iran.
Prior to working in Trump’s first-term team, Bolton had previously served in George W. Bush’s administration as the US ambassador to the United Nations.
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