Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldUS allies have quickly had to adjust to the disruptive and often antagonistic policies of the second Trump administration. But the stunning disclosure that top US officials discussed sensitive US military operations in Yemen on a Signal message group that mistakenly included a journalist reveals something else: the sheer amateurism of the Trump White House. The breach will raise disquiet across the US security and military apparatus about the risks of such behaviour to personnel. Allies could question what intelligence they are prepared to share with Washington in future.Government by WhatsApp has become common, as inquiries into Covid pandemic handling in the UK and elsewhere have found. But confidential exchanges between government and security officials normally take place in the White House situation room or via highly secure lines, not Signal. Though Signal is considered more secure than WhatsApp, there were clear potential vulnerabilities, notably if the conversation took place on officials’ phones; hackers and hostile security services have targeted such devices in the past.Communications security is paramount to protect both government secrets and military and security staff. In a pre-scheduled Senate intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday, Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, and CIA director John Ratcliffe both denied that classified material had been shared in the chat. Yet Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, who was invited to join in error, says the conversation discussed “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels”, including targets and weapons. He adds that a message apparently from Ratcliffe contained “information that might be interpreted as related to” current intelligence operations. Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy for Russia, was in Moscow when he was added to the chat, although it is unclear if his phone was with him.Legal experts have suggested that disclosing operational details on a non-secure medium could violate the US Espionage Act. Since some messages are said to have been set to disappear after one or four weeks, unless they were later forwarded to official government accounts this could also breach federal laws on record retention. US financial groups have fallen foul of similar rules by discussing business issues via text messages on personal devices. In 2022, 11 Wall Street banks and brokers agreed to pay more than $1.8bn in fines after an investigation uncovered “pervasive off-channel communications”.The discussions also provide proof, if any were needed, that the disdain for Europe expressed by US vice-president JD Vance last month was not exaggeration intended to sting European leaders into action. It is shared by other officials — who discuss in the chat how to get Europeans to pay for the strikes. Vance’s suggestion that the Houthi threat was primarily a European issue since only a fraction of US trade ran through the Suez Canal overlooks the effects of disruptions to energy markets and US supply chains. But the time when the US saw its role as global policeman as a way of also protecting its own interests, even indirectly, is clearly over.The White House dismissed criticisms of the breach as a “co-ordinated effort to distract from the successful actions” of the president. But the Democrat Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate committee, suggested that “sloppy, careless, incompetent behaviour” should lead to sackings. Though the FBI and justice department are headed by Trump loyalists, it is still possible that investigations will follow. The administration should, at the very least, revamp its procedures to ensure there is no repeat of such an incident. Donald Trump is doing enough harm to US standing in the world without adding dangerous ineptitude to the list.
