Crypto News: Disdain for Europe in DC

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The startling nature of the security breach aside, what lingers from the chat-group leak exposed yesterday is the US administration's disdain for its European allies.

"I just hate bailing Europe out again," Vice President JD Vance said before the US bombed Houthi targets in Yemen, according to the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently included in the private Signal group.

"I fully share your loathing of European free-loading," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded. White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said the US would make "the Europeans" pay for the US securing Red Sea trade routes.

US President Donald Trump, Waltz, JD Vance, and Hegseth, from left, at the White House on March 13. Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Transatlantic relations have been in the toilet before, of course. During the Iraq war, much of Europe refused to join the US-led invasion in 2003.

Back then, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld mused about old and new Europe, unfavorably comparing non-combatants such as France to eastern nations like Poland that joined the "coalition of the willing" against Saddam Hussein.

Two decades later, Vance divides Europe into far-right, anti-immigration forces and governments in countries including Germany that he says are suppressing free speech by trying to blunt their advance.

The UK and France are pulling together another coalition of the willing to patrol any ceasefire in Ukraine, while the US refuses to take part.

Whether this is trolling or genuine contempt, consequences are already being felt. Sales of Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk's Teslas are in freefall in Europe (see Chart of the Day).

Germany's decision to scrap constitutional borrowing restrictions to spend big on defense was justified on grounds of a political order under threat. That position now looks doubly vindicated.

The chat-group incident demonstrates an explosive mix of military and political power, arrogance and ineptitude.

Future intelligence sharing seems like an obvious first victim.

A further deterioration in transatlantic ties is surely not far behind. — Alan Crawford

WATCH: Private texts between top US officials offered unique insight into their planning for strikes against Houthi militants while also laying bare the full extent of their disdain for European allies. Bloomberg's Rosalind Mathieson reports.

Global Must Reads

Trump said he will announce tariffs on automobile imports in the coming days — and indicated that some nations could receive breaks from next week's "reciprocal" levies, sowing more confusion about his plans for a sweeping announcement scheduled for April 2. Trump also appeared to invent a new weapon of economic statecraft by threatening what he dubbed "secondary tariffs" on countries that buy oil from Venezuela.

Ukrainian and US officials were holding fresh talks in Saudi Arabia today after American and Russian teams met for 12 hours to discuss a 30-day energy infrastructure truce and a proposed Black Sea ceasefire. As Trump said a minerals deal with Ukraine is nearing completion, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday that her country "wholeheartedly" supports a full ceasefire with Russia.

Turkey's top economic officials will speak with foreign investors today, the latest attempt to calm markets since the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu triggered billions of dollars in outflows. It took just 30 minutes for the embrace by Wall Street banks and hedge funds of Turkey to unravel after news broke of the move against İmamoğlu, the main opposition leader.

Greenland needs purchase commitments from either the US or the European Union to unlock investments into critical minerals, according to the head of the island's largest bank. Separately, a planned trip by US administration representatives to the island this week shows "a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people" given government talks are ongoing, according to the territory's election winner, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The US exit from the World Health Organization and other aid-funding cuts by the Trump administration have struck directly at Geneva. The lakeside Swiss city is home to 38 international organizations that employ 29,000 people, spend some $7 billion each year and support about 400 NGOs.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning "powerful" measures to ease the impact on consumers from inflation, according to local media reports, which said he intends to roll out major relief measures after this year's budget is approved by parliament.

Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is promising a deeper income-tax cut than Liberal leader Mark Carney, as the two politicians compete in a tight election race to attract voters struggling with the cost of living.

Australia's center-left government unveiled an unexpected tax cut and an extension of energy rebates in a pre-election budget designed to help secure Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a second term in office.

Mozambique's most prominent opposition leader, who's orchestrated months of demonstrations that have battered the country's economy, said he agreed with the president to end post-election violence that's left hundreds of people dead.

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Chart of the Day

Tesla sales have fallen in 10 of the last 12 months in Europe, plunging 43% in the first two months of the year and deviating from the 31% rise in industrywide electric-vehicle registrations. While there are likely other factors at play too, Tesla CEO Musk has become a polarizing figure as a top Trump adviser, weighing into Germany's election last month and calling for the US to pull out of NATO, and his detractors have targeted Tesla stores and charging stations and even its customers' vehicles.

And Finally

Heathrow Airport uses as much energy as a small city, and when a major fire at a substation caused the power to fail last week, it was a sobering reminder of the fragility of transport infrastructure. At the center of the chaos was a burning electrical transformer, a device that's essential to powering almost everything.