Jd Vance wanted to postpone attack on Houthis, show messages

United States Vice President JD Vance (Republican) wanted to postpone for 1 month, show messages exchanged by Donald Trump (Republican) government officials in a group.

A magazine The Atlantic He had access to the content after his chief editor, Jeffrey Goldberg ,. The publication on this 4th (26.mar.2025) the full material.

In one of the messages, Vance expresses concern about the strategic and economic impacts that the attack could have. He says that Americans could not understand the need for the operation because only “3% of US commerce” They pass through the Suez Canal, while 40% of European trade depend on this route.

The channel is a strategic passage to global trade, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and has been impacted by the attacks of the Houthis to commercial ships in the region.

“There is an additional risk of seeing a moderate increase in oil prices,” adds the vice president.

Vance also warns that the attack can contradict Trump’s foreign policy towards Europe.

“The strongest reason for doing this is, as the president said, sending a message. But I’m not sure if the president is aware of how incongruous this is with his message about Europe at the moment.”he wrote.

The director of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), John Ratcliffe, does not speak totally against the suggestion in the group. He says that a postponement would not impact the company negatively and that the “Additional time could be used to identify better starting points to monitor the Houthi leadership”.

The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, recognizes the vice-president’s concerns and suggests that they are taken to Trump. However, it warns of the risks of a postponement: possible leaks and Israel’s chance to act before, taking control of the situation from the US.

Hegseth argues that, regardless of the decision, the public narrative should focus on the failure of former US President Joe Biden (Democrat) and Iran’s financing to the Houthis.

“We are prepared to execute, and if I had the final vote of ‘yes’ or ‘no’, I believe we should go on. This is not about the Houthis. I see this as two questions: 1) Restore freedom of navigation, a fundamental national interest; and 2) restore the dissuasion that Biden destroyed.”says the Secretary of Defense.

Jd Vance ends up agreeing with Hegseth. “If you think we should do this, then let’s go ahead. I only hate to help Europe again.”says.

The vice president also asks the message about the operation to be well aligned and cohesive, to avoid misinterpretations or public resistance. “And if there is something we can do from now to minimize the risk for Saudi oil facilities, we must do so.”adds.

Sensitive information

The messages released by Atlantic They also show that Pete Hegseth sent to the members of the group the exact hours of the US jet takeoffs. It informs, for example, about the takeoff of the 1st F-18 Fighters group and the release of MQ-9 drones.

According to the US magazine, the information was sent 31 minutes before the first aircraft will take off and two hours and 1 minute before the beginning of the Houthis target should be eliminated.

According to the publication, the content considered sensitive could endanger the lives of US soldiers who participated in the operation if the message had been leaked from the group.

See below for the messages of the messages: