“EUROPEAN FREE-LOADING”
Trump announced the strikes on the Houthis on Mar 15, but Goldberg said he had hours of advance notice via the group chat.
Two other officials on the chat, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA chief John Ratcliffe, were due to speak to the US Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
The panel’s Republican chair, Senator Tom Cotton, told Fox and Friends on Tuesday that the group chat issue “will come up” at the hearing.
“John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard and the other leaders will have a chance to address it, but I do hope that we keep the focus on the decisive action that the president took against these outlaw rebels in Yemen,” Cotton said.
Journalist Goldberg said he was added to the group chat two days before the Yemen strikes, and received messages from other top government officials designating representatives who would work on the issue.
The leak could have been highly damaging if Goldberg had publicised details of the plan in advance, but he did not do so.
But the report did reveal details of what top White House officials think about key allies.
A person identified as Vance expressed doubts about carrying out the strikes, saying he hated “bailing Europe out again,” as countries there were more affected by Houthi attacks on shipping than the United States.
Contributors identified as Hegseth and Waltz both sent messages arguing only Washington had the capability to carry out the strikes, with the Pentagon chief saying he shared Vance’s “loathing of European free-loading” and calling the Europeans “pathetic”.
The Houthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.
They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, saying they were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.
