Leaked messages prove Trump & Co aren’t bluffing and they loathe EU – it must step up

EVERYONE has had a slip of the ­fingers. An email reply in which you accidentally “cc all”;. Or a text ­message sent to the wrong person.

But the Trump administration in ­Washington is now going through its first major hiccup thanks to a much worse version of this.

Somebody in Trump’s national security team put a Signal messaging group together in order to discuss a recent US military strike. Spec­ifically on the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

They included the President’s national security advisers, the US Defence Secretary, the US Secretary of State. And a journalist.

Why the editor of The Atlantic ­magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in the group is anyone’s guess.

Perhaps someone of a similar name was meant to be involved. Maybe it was a pure slip of the thumb.

But whatever the reasons, the editor-in-chief of the anti-Trump magazine was included among the 19 people in the group.

And as a result he had prior warning of the significant military strikes that took place earlier this month.

The Trump administration first of all denied the reports that the journalist gleefully published.

Next they admitted that the group was legit. Now they are trying desperately to put a lid on the story.

But with the journalist in question ­continuing to release the messages — and yesterday publishing them in full — it is hard to hear the denials.

Officials are trying to find a way to stop the story. But it now has legs of its own.

National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has taken responsibility for the error. It seems that it was him who put the group together.

Interviewed yesterday he said he didn’t know how it had happened and said that he wasn’t in touch with the journalist.

In passing he also referred to Goldberg as a “loser”; and the “bottom scum of journalists”;. Ouch.

For his part, President Trump has downplayed the mistake. Describing Waltz as a “good man”; who had “learned a ­lesson”; he went on to describe the leak as “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one”;.

Others will disagree about that.

The group chat not only gave Goldberg — a man who obviously has no security clearances — a heads-up about the strikes. It also revealed operational details.

In a response to a query from Vice President JD Vance, Waltz wrote: “Typing too fast. The first target — their top ­missile guy — we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”;

One minute later the Vice President replied: “Excellent.”;

Other members of the group replied to messages with emojis, including a punch, a flame and an American flag.

All of this is ­giving considerable delight to Trump-haters. As it would. After all, if such a security leak had come from the Democrats when they were in government, the Republicans would be all over this.

But there is also a diplomatic angle to the leaked chat which is deeply telling.

Members of the group talk about the fact that the Houthis have been targeting vessels in the sea lanes of the Red Sea.

This has been an issue for over a year and has demanded a strong response.

In the group chat, the Trump team talk about the need to keep the sea lanes open and free from terrorist attack.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth points out that keeping freedom of navigation in the world’s shipping lanes is a “core ­national interest”;.

‘Hate bailing Europe out’

But others point out that it is the ­Europeans who are most affected by the Houthi attacks on ships.

Waltz says: “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 [the Department of Defence] and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.”;

VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC

And at this point the Vice President chips in again: “If you think we should do it, let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”;

In reply to that message ­Hegseth said: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”;

And that is likely to be the part of this leak that will resonate the most.

After all, the Trump administration has not kept quiet on its loathing for EU free-loading. Trump said repeatedly in his first term, and again during his second, that he believes Europe should pay its own way in security.

He is fed up with Europe piggy-backing off US defence spending. And he is right.

But a lot of British and European leaders consoled themselves with the idea that this was all part of a Trump “play”;.

That he was talking tough against European free-loading but that if push came to shove he would have their back.

The Signal chat has lots of potential effects.

But one of the most important is that European leaders and others can see what JD Vance and others are actually thinking.

That they are not bluffing.  And that Europe — and this country — actually does have

ZEGLER FLOP IS SNOW LAUGHING MATTER . . .

SNOW White is red-faced.

The star of Disney’s remake – Rachel Zegler – has been kept as far from the media as poss­ible in recent months.

It follows interviews and social media posts where the 23-year-old starlet trashed the much-loved 1937 original.

And then went on to attack the majority of the American public who voted for President Trump last November.

Would-be fans have been pointing out how empty the cinemas have been since the film launched last week.

Now Zegler has been filmed in a US cinema watching the film.

Unfor­tunately, she and her pals appear to be the only people in the place.

Perhaps they booked the whole thing out.

More likely Zegler discovered just how big the audience is for her flop-eroo.