The US is now considered a security risk, and not only in Europe

WELT The US is now considered a security risk, and not only in Europe Jack Detsch, Paul McLeary • 1 hour • 5 minutes reading time Pentegon chief Pete Hegseth, who was implicated in the "Signalgate" scandal, is trying to limit the damage to allies in the Pacific after the scandal. But this is not the first misstep with which the secretary has undermined the credibility of the Trump administration. The consequences are serious. Once again, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is on a foreign trip overshadowed by a controversy largely of his own making. Hegseth's first foreign trip to Brussels last month did not go smoothly either. At that time, the defense secretary ruled out Ukraine joining NATO even before the Trump administration had officially settled the debate. Now, as the Pentagon chief embarks on his first trip to Asia, he is once again in a bind. This time, the issue concerns his and other senior government officials' participation in a group chat on the commercial messaging service Signals, which not only appeared to be inadvertently accessed by a journalist, but also discussed plans and confidential information about military strikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen. This latest misstep not only contradicts how Hegseth presents himself in front of cameras and on social media, but also threatens to damage his reputation with two key allies in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan and the Philippines. Democrats, as well as some Republicans who have long accused the former Fox News host of being unqualified for the position of Secretary of Defense, may see their views vindicated by these incidents. "You don't have to be a member of the military or the intelligence community to know that this is exactly the kind of information the enemy wants," says Mick Mulroy, former Deputy Secretary of Defense during Trump's first term (2017-2021). "And this clearly puts our service members at risk." Hegseth actually wants to use his trip to Asia to strengthen alliances in the Pacific, which could be crucial for containing China. His agenda includes a visit to the Pacific Ocean state of Hawaii, far from the American mainland, and to the territory of Guam, the center of US air defense in the Indo-Pacific. He is scheduled to meet with the presidents of the respective countries in Japan and the Philippines. But above all, there is the question of whether the Pentagon chief misused classified information and violated the law – even though the White House denies that the information exchanged in the chat was classified. "Not high expectations" "This is certainly an unhelpful distraction," says a former Defense Department official with experience in the Indo-Pacific region, who, like others interviewed, wished to speak anonymously. "One would expect the Secretary of Defense's first trip to the Indo-Pacific to be an opportunity for him to prioritize the region. Instead, he will have to explain how the events surrounding the signals chat came about and what went wrong." Another former defense official expressed similar sentiments. "Allies don't have high expectations of Hegseth. That was to be expected." Meanwhile, the Secretary has even contradicted his own administration. On Monday evening, he told reporters that "no one texted attack plans" – even though a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed the existence of the group chat and did not deny the content of the messages between National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other senior officials. The Pentagon insists the events will not distract from Hegseth's week-long trip. "Secretary Hegseth's official visit to the Indo-Pacific to strengthen our alliances and advance President Trump's national security priorities was—and will be—a resounding success," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a written statement. "The sensationalist reports of the mainstream media cannot and will not detract from that. We are fully focused on our mission." Irritations in allies In chat news, which had been published in an article by the editor-in-chief of the magazine "The Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg at the beginning of the week, Hegseth had not mentioned the Indopazacifik, but clearly expressed his "disgust for Europe's Schmarotzen", which he called "pitiful". On the other side of the Atlantic, this triggered irritation. A European diplomat described the open news as "outrageous" and pointed out that NATO allies patrolled together with the US Navy in the Red Sea. The European Union also conducts a marin emission on the waterway with ten Member States, where the Huthi-Miliz supported by Iran has been attacking ships since the beginning of the Gaza War. The passage leading through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal is of great importance for shipping because it is a shortest connection between Asia and Europe. Allies such as Japan and the Philippines would probably not even address the controversy around the group chat in private conversation, believes the former official of the Ministry of Defense to the region. Neither of the two countries is a member of the Five Eyes, i.e. the alliance of the Secret Services of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Nevertheless, the controversy, the Hegseth's trips abroad as Defense Minister, may have damaged trust among the allies to the United States. Behind closed doors in Washington you could raise the question of how the US government is standing for you. "That is the only thing everyone wants to talk about," says a former Trump government official, who was responsible for planning trips for top politicians. "How can you talk about the relationships between the United States to the Indopazacific countries when they wonder if he speaks badly about them in a group chat?" In Washington, meanwhile, less precisely is observed which message Hegseth is sending out to the allies, for example with regard to China, but whether the current crisis continues to worsen. It is still unclear whether the government or the congress will take measures. Secret service coordinator Tulsi Gabard, who was listed in the "Atlantic" report as a member of the chat group, denied that he had participated in the entertainment and said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the National Security Council examined the incident. It also insisted that no confidential information had been exchanged. In the Senate you don't want to be fitted with it. At least four Democrats, Mark Warner from Virginia, Tammy Duckworth from Illinois, Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Ron Wyden from Oregon, asked Hegseth to resign after the leak became known. The minority leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, continued and suggested to dismiss him for misconduct. Even the Republican politician John Cornyn, who has represented the state of Texas in the Senate for 22 years, called the leaked chat messages a "huge mistake". And while Hegseth travels through Asia, even members from their own ranks demand that the Minister of Defense are held responsible. "The instructions and regulations applicable to the discussion of confidential information in non -authorized media are quite clear," said a military officer. "The government has chosen the accountability obligation as one of its priorities - now some people should also be held accountable."