The Guardian view on the Signal war plans leak: a US security breach speaks volumes | Editorial

A staggering blunder points to the wider failings of the careless and amateurish Trump administration

It is jaw-dropping that senior Trump administration figures would accidentally leak war plans to a journalist. But the fundamental issue is that 18high-ranking individuals were happy discussing extremely sensitive material on a private messaging app, highlighting the administration's extraordinary amateurishness, recklessness and unaccountability.

The visceral hostility to Europe spelt out again by the vice-president, JD Vance, was glaring. So was the indifference to the potential civilian cost of the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, designed to curb attacks on Red Sea shipping. The Houthi-run health ministry said that 53 people including five children andtwo women were killed. The response by the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, to the attacks was to post emojis: a fist, an American flag and fire. The lack of contrition for this security breach is also telling. Individually and together, these are far more than a glitch", in Donald Trump's words. They are features ofhis administration.