One way Europeans have coped with the return of Donald Trump is by clinging to the belief that the president and his team don’t really mean what they say. Anyone still labouring under that delusion should look at the leaked Signal group chat messages about a missile strike on the Houthis between the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials.
We have access to these messages because Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, added Atlantic editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group chat, which also included secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and CIA director John Ratcliffe. Goldberg then lurked in the chat taking screenshots without being noticed by the group as they decided whether to go ahead with missile strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. And how do the people controlling the most powerful military force react after their Navy kills around 58 people on the Arabian Peninsula? With emojis of flames, an American flag and a fist.
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