In a question-and-answer session of British Parliament Wednesday, the controversy over the leaked Signal group chat involving high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussing U.S. military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this month prompted a hard question from MP Sir Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats: can Britain still trust the U.S. with its secrets?

"Will the prime minister make it clear that he will order an urgent review into the security of the intelligence that we share with the United States?" Davey asked in a session of the House of Commons.

But U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushed back.

"We work with the United States on a daily basis," Starmer replied. "Unpicking our relations with the U.S. for defense and security is neither responsible nor serious."

But not everyone agreed, including MP Helen Maguire, also a Liberal Democrat.

"It's difficult to say that we can continue to rely on the U.S. when they're really playing Russian roulette with Western security," she told CBS News.

Across Europe, though, political leaders were anxious not to provoke President Trump and largely avoided that kind of criticism.

Newspaper and news sites headlines did not.

The French daily L'Express led with "Top-secret plans leaked – what we know about the Trump administration's big blunder."

In Italy, Il Fatto Quotidiano's top story was headed "Parasitic, mean and an object of hate - Vance and Hegseth reveal what Trump's U.S. thinks of its NATO allies."

Online, there was widespread outrage at Europeans being described in the leaked Signal text thread by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as "free-loaders." In the thread, Hegseth responded in agreement to a message from Vice President JD Vance by writing, "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC."

Maguire, a military veteran, is one of the thousands of British troops that helped the U.S. topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the early 2000s.

"It's horrendous. I mean, the word 'freeloading,'" she said. "I've served in Iraq. Iraq was a U.S. war. I was there with my military counterparts. Not only that, but the U.S. has many bases in British overseas territories, so we're absolutely not freeloaders. We've been supporting the U.S. for many years, and it's incredibly disappointing to hear off-the-cuff comments like that from J.D. Vance."

Asked whether the comments hurt, Maguire responded, "Absolutely, it's really hurtful. British soldiers have put their lives on the line."

But beyond the hurt there is resolve, as Europe prepares for the potential of a new reality. Europeans seem to be over the shock of having the U.S. government, a country they've long regarded as their greatest friend and ally, suddenly appear to turn on them.

The message was first delivered loud and clear by Vance last month in a controversial speech at the Munich Security Conference in which he accused European allies of stifling free speech, and it's been underlined again this week. Vance also said at the time that the president wants European allies in NATO to contribute at least 5% of their gross domestic product to increased security spending.

European leaders are already discussing very expensive plans for stepping up their own defenses, as well as Ukraine's. They are also coming up with a package of tariffs to retaliate against what Mr. Trump is expected to impose on European goods next month. Mr. Trump also announced Wednesday that he is implementing a 25% tariff on all automobiles and light trucks imported into the U.S. beginning April 2.



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