_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added to a high-level Signal group chat with senior Trump administration officials, the contents of which Goldberg leaked throughout the week. The fallout from the story is still unfolding, and there’s no guarantee that everyone makes it out with their jobs.
Still, there was a silver lining: the messages showed that Trump’s top officials are the same behind closed doors as they are in public — and that they often clash with one another, and even with the president.
_THE FACTS_
The group chat Goldberg was added to included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Counterterrorism Center Director nominee Joe Kent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others.
Goldberg was reportedly added to the chat by Waltz, though Waltz, while taking “full responsibility,” has claimed he has no idea how Goldberg was added (some have speculated Waltz meant to add Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, who has the same initials).
The leaked messages were all cordial and revealed thorough coordination between top-level members of the administration.
But they also revealed points of disagreement. Vice President Vance signaled his disapproval of the strike on the Houthis, arguing it was a mistake to clear the Red Sea of pirates, pointing out that 40 percent of European trade runs through the Suez Canal, whereas only three percent of American trade does.
Vance also framed the attack as “inconsistent” with Trump’s demand that Europe defend itself and finished by arguing for a monthlong delay to the strike — possibly hoping that would push it off indefinitely.
Joe Kent and John Ratcliffe, who have both publicly aligned themselves with the America First wing of the GOP, spoke positively about a delay as well.
Waltz, by contrast, disputed Vance’s figures, writing that products and components bound for European trade can ultimately end up in the United States.
Hegseth was somewhere in the middle, supportive of an immediate strike now while agreeing with Vance’s portrayal of European states as freeloaders.
_INSIGHTS_
While the chats fell short of the “war plans” that Goldberg claimed they contained — at one point, he even said the chats contained names of targets (they did not) — they did reveal that the Trump administration is the same inside and out. Vance, who entered the Senate two years ago expressing frustration over bailing out Europe, expressed that same frustration on Signal. Whereas Waltz, who previously worked for former Vice President Dick Cheney, took the same interventionist line that he has taken in public in the past.
But the chats also show clear dividing lines in the administration’s top decision-makers, between individuals who favor restraint — like Vance and Kent — and those who don’t — like Waltz, with Hegseth taking a more balanced position. As the administration continues, expect to see these divisions become clearer, though ultimately toeing President Trump’s line.
