Vice President JD Vance advised against a military strike in Yemen, according to a secret Signal chat about the proposed operation with President Donald Trump‘s national security team.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic revealed that Trump’s national security team added him to the secret chat, and published details of the conversation on Monday.
In the conversation, the user identified as ‘JD Vance’ wrote that ‘Andy baker for VP’ was messaging for the vice president.
‘Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake,’ the Vance user stated to the group that included National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
‘There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message,’ the Vance user continued.
The military strike against the Houthis, the team argued, was necessary to keep shipping lanes open on the Red Sea, as the insurgents were targeting ships.
Vance’s account expressed concerns about the timing of the proposed operation, warning of oil prices spiking as a result.
‘I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,’ he wrote. ‘There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices.’
The Vance user said that he would remain publicly silent about his concerns, but expressed them to the team.
‘I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc,’ he said.
Vance’s communications director William Martin said the vice president remained aligned with Trump’s decision, but wanted to make sure he was properly briefed by his advisors.
‘The Vice President’s first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations,’ he said in a statement. ‘Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.’
In the chat, the Hegseth user said he understood Vance’s concerns and urged him to raise them with the president, but argued for immediate action.
‘We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should,’ he wrote.
The Walz user also said the United States would have to act and reminded Vance that ‘Per the president’s request we are working with DOD and State to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans.’
‘If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again,’ the Vance user replied.
The SM user, identified in the article as Trump’s advisor Steve Miller, reminded the group about the president’s goal.
‘As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return,’ he wrote.
Trump ultimately ordered the strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen over the weekend from his club at Mar-a-lago in a successful mission.
The president on Monday told reporters at the White House he hadn’t seen The Atlantic story revealing the details of the chat.
‘I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic. It’s to me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business.’
