Information leak serves to expose US' attitude toward European allies

That senior Donald Trump administration officials discussed classified military plans — such as "air strikes on Yemen's Houthi forces" — on a nonclassified communication app, in a breach of US government security norms, is dramatic enough.

What makes it even more astonishing is the inclusion in that chat of Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. This blunder led to the information leak.

Yet, public perception was hardly shaken when US Vice-President JD Vance openly declared, "I just hate bailing Europe out again", while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed Europe as "freeloading". Although Europe considers itself an ally of the United States, the Trump administration has undoubtedly demonstrated a dismissive demeanor toward it.

Vance lectured European countries on democracy in Munich in February; the European Union even didn't appear at the negotiation table on the Ukraine crisis; the EU is facing almost indiscriminate tariff attacks and threats from the US.

These reflect a US mindset that The Economist magazine captured perfectly with its comment on the information leak "A shambolic leak reveals Team Trump's contempt for allies".

European leaders are well aware of this reality and have long been advocating for strategic autonomy. To the Europeans, an alliance should be based on equality.

While varying national interests may prevent European countries from achieving complete strategic independence, the pursuit of those should remain a common goal that serves the collective interests of all European nations and is worth striving for.

Adding yet another layer of drama, US Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chairman Mark Warner claimed that China was "luring individuals with national security clearance". Blaming China has long been a reflex action for many US politicians when faced with their own missteps.

However, such deflections do little to mitigate the current controversy or help divert attention from the focus of the incident, which is the Trump administration's contempt toward the US' European allies.