Ex-22 SAS Staff Sergeant Chris Ryan believes the major security blunder could put Brits and American spies at risk after war plans were leaked on a messaging app
News Liam Buckler Senior News Reporter 10:11, 31 Mar 2025Updated 10:22, 31 Mar 2025
A former SAS hero says the UK "can't trust" the US with top secret intelligence after war plans were leaked in Donald Trump's administration. Ex-22 SAS Staff Sergeant, Chris Ryan, believes the major security blunder could put Brits and American spies at risk after war plans were exposed on a messaging app.
US Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz, were part of the chat, which was exposed by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the Atlantic magazine. And now Ryan, who escaped capture in Iraq on a mission with Bravo Two Zero during the first Gulf War, believes the UK "cannot trust" top secret information with the US after "moronic amateurs" leaked plans for an airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen.
He told MailOnline: "Under Trump, the Americans have lost their way, and you can't trust them. When you have got people who have been read in and have access to top secret information, but they're allowed to put all this into a group with people who have no place being there, that's a big concern. It's moronic."
Former officer in British military intelligence, Colonel Philip Ingram, also raised concerns at how the White House was managing its sensitive information claiming Trump's administration was being run by a bunch of "amatuers" who have damaged America's repuation as "leaders of the free world."
He said: "This is embarrassing at the highest possible level. It will take the US a long, long time to recover from this. A bunch of amateurs are now the leaders of the free world, at a political level."
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It comes as Donald Trump on Saturday made his clearest commitment to not fire anyone over an embarrassing accidental leak of his administration’s plans for an airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen. “I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
He also said that he had confidence in Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, and Pete Hegseth, his Pentagon chief. Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic magazine, to a group text using the Signal encrypted messaging service where top officials were discussing plans to attack the Houthis.
During the chat, Hegseth included details on how the strike would unfold before it took place.
Afterwards, The Atlantic published an article on the internal exchange, shocking the national security establishment. Trump is eager to avoid repeating some of the turnover that characterized his first term.
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Mike Flynn, his first national security adviser, was pushed out after only a few weeks during the early phase of the Russia investigation. He’s also shown resistance to bowing to outside pressure, especially if it comes from the news media.
Asked if there were conversations about firing Waltz, Trump insisted, “I’ve never heard that. And nobody else makes that decision but me, and I’ve never heard it.”
