AILSA CHANG, HOST:
European security officials have reacted cautiously to the revelation that the Trump administration accidentally included a journalist on a text chat discussing details of a military operation in Yemen. As Willem Marx reports from London, reactions have been varied, but many in Europe admit the incident only underlines the fraying of transatlantic relations.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: The U.K. is America's closest ally for intelligence-sharing and has played a small, significant role in operations against Houthi forces in Yemen at the center of the recent revelations from journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, so it was unsurprising British politicians fielded thorny inquiries about the security lapse, including U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard, who faced repeated questions in Parliament. One lawmaker asked what would happen to U.K. officials if they shared sensitive military details in a similar fashion. Here's Pollard's response.
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LUKE POLLARD: My general rule would be that if there's operational decisions that are being taken, we should all, regardless of our role within defense, take our information-sharing seriously, and there would be a clear consequence and disciplinary process for anyone that wouldn't be following those procedures.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's not acceptable, is it?
MARX: The U.K.'s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner avoided any undiplomatic language when she was repeatedly pressed on the topic in a BBC interview.
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANGELA RAYNER: We've been sharing intelligence and information for many decades, and we continue to do that through our secure networks. It is for the U.S. and the U.S. president and the government to explain and decide what they're doing in regards to their security and that Signal messaging group.
MARX: Across Europe, the focus has been on the Trump administration's sometimes scornful attitude towards European defense capabilities, as Germany's most-read newspaper, Das Bild, reported in its audio version.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking German).
MARX: "Aside from the laxity with which the world's most powerful politicians shared top secret military strikes in an unsecured chat group," a reporter from Das Bild wrote, "the unfriendly words towards Europe from the Americans are further proof that the U.S. no longer considers us a vital ally."
But Europe should not be surprised, said Pierre Haski, an editorial writer speaking on French public radio.
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PIERRE HASKI: (Speaking French).
MARX: "For Europeans, there's a sense of a broken relationship in discovering the extent of American hostility," Haski said. "But like in love, there is life after a breakup, and it's important to make the most of your new life."
There was some satisfaction at the lapse, too, including in the audio version of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: "We can't have someone in the Oval Office who doesn't understand the meaning of the word classified," the newspaper quoted President Trump as saying during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Then it showcased his opponent in that race, Hillary Clinton, reacting this week on social media, you've got to be kidding.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: The breakdown in transatlantic ties the messages reveal is troubling, though, says Ian Lesser, a distinguished fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States think tank.
IAN LESSER: It's really unprecedented, and these are not challenges the European institutions are well set up to deal with. Perhaps individual leaders in Europe will react, you know, in different ways to it. But Brussels itself, the European Union itself, NATO certainly, with the U.S. as part of it, is simply not well set up to address this multifaceted challenge.
MARX: As European governments step up their defense spending, many in Europe say their militaries must soon be more ready to operate without U.S. help.
For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in London.
CHANG: And a note that NPR's CEO Katherine Maher is chair of the board of Signal Foundation, which runs the Signal messaging app. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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