US intelligence sharing could be impacted by a stunning security breach that saw a journalist inadvertently added to a chat group of top Trump officials discussing military plans, a Democratic senator warned Tuesday.
The United States and allies around the world share intelligence that helps keep Americans safe, Mark Warner said at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
But as Donald Trump’s administration insults allies including Canada and European nations, and moves closer to traditional adversaries such as Russia, the security breach could further erode trust, the lawmaker warned.
“The intelligence we gather to keep Americans safe depends on a lot of allies around the world who have access to sources we don’t have. That sharing of information saves lives, and it’s not hypothetical,” said Warner, the top Democrat on the panel.
“However, these relationships are not built in stone. They’re not dictated by law. Things like the Five Eyes are based on trust,” he said, referring to an intelligence-sharing alliance between the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Warner said that “trust is now breaking, literally overnight,” adding that the security breach was “a pattern we’re seeing too often repeated.”
“Make no mistake, these actions make America less safe,” he said.
The breach saw The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg inadvertently added to a Signal chat group that apparently included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, plus several top intelligence officials, as they discussed strikes targeting rebel Houthis in Yemen.
“Mistakes do happen” with Five Eyes intelligence, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.
“What’s important is how people react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up… And part of that response is to be more and more Canadian in our defense capabilities,” he continued.
“We have to look out for ourselves.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson praised the close relationship with the United States, particularly on defense and security, adding: “we expect that to continue.”
National security experts have expressed shock at the seemingly reckless use of a publicly-available instant messaging app to discuss US military actions, while a comment by Hegseth about “pathetic” Europeans “freeloading” off US military might have further fuelled outrage at the Trump administration’s stance on Europe.
Trump, however, backed his Pentagon chief Tuesday.
“Yeah, I think they’ve been freeloading,” he told reporters when asked if he agreed with the comments on Europe.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)