
Europe tight-lipped following Hegseth, Vance 'loathing' text exchange
Fox News
European leaders have refrained from retorting to "loathing" comments by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, who accused all of Europe as being "free-loading."
Vance broke from President Donald Trump, who directed the U.S. to ramp up strikes against the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen which, backed by Iran, began escalating attacks on merchant ships along the major trade route following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
Following the offensive push earlier this month, Vance, in a Signal group chat, texted the U.S.’s top security officials, including Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliff, among others, that only "3 percent of U.S. trade runs through the [Suez Canal]. 40 percent of European trade does."