The Real Scandal Is Bombing Yemen, Not the Group Chat
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Matt Duss on the contradictions of Trump’s foreign policy.
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The Real Scandal is Bombing Yemen, Not the Group Chat | Time of Monsters
This week Washington was abuzz with a security scandal over a group chat planning the bombing of Yemen accidentally included magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. Lost amid the finger pointing about operational security was the fact that the bombing of Yemen is illegal, immoral, and ineffective.
To take up the actual scandal of the war, Jeet Heer spoke with Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy. We also discuss the actual contents of the group chat which real important fissures within Trump’s foreign policy team between neo-conservatives who favor fighting as many wars as possible and unilateralists who insist there has to be a prioritizing of conflicts. This fissure opens the path to a much different foreign policy, one that the left can play a role in shaping.
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Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe (C) speaks as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (L) and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse listen during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing at the Longworth House Office Building on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. The hearing held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence addressed top aides inadvertently including Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic magazine, on a high level Trump administration Signal group chat discussing plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)This week, Washington is abuzz with a security scandal over a group chat planning the bombing of Yemen accidentally included Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Lost amid the finger pointing about operational security was the fact that the bombing of Yemen is illegal, immoral, and ineffective.
To take up the actual scandal of the war, I spoke with Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy. We also discuss the actual contents of the group chat that reveal important fissures within Trump’s foreign policy team between neoconservatives who favor fighting as many wars as possible and unilateralists who insist there has to be a prioritizing of conflicts. This fissure opens the path to a much different foreign policy, one that the left can play a role in shaping.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.
The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
The Rise of the Far Right in Europe w/ David Broder | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
Only a few years ago, European elites were patting themselves on the back for fending off the
tide of right-wing anti-system parties (often styled as populists). But recent polls in France,
Germany and the United Kingdom show that that the far right is once again gaining traction,
thanks in no small part centrist governments that have demoralized the population and
legitimized xenophobia. David Broder, author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren and European editor
of Jacobin, wrote a wide-ranging essay on this for The New York Times. I spoke to David about
both the dismal decisions of mainstream parties and also possible alternatives.
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