Russian state TV mocks Trump officials for leaked Yemen air strike plans, says they want to ‘get in’ THIS chat

Donald Trump administrations’ top officials became the subject of ridicule by Russian state TV hosts after the Signal scandal, where a journalist was “accidentally” added to a confidential chat, came to light.

Mocking Trump’s team over the chat leak, news anchors on Russian state TV — often referred to as ‘mouthpieces’ of Russian President Vladimir Putin — commented they wanted “to get in” another chat.

‘Insane’ amounts of emojis

Taunting Trump administration officials for inadvertently adding The Atlantic magazine journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a chat where senior officials shared plans for military strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the TV hosts noted the “insane” amount of emojis used.

Also read | Trump’s top advisers’ private data found online amid Yemen war plans group chat scandal

Poking fun at the US official’s extensive use of emojis, Russia 1 TV host Olga Skabeyeva said “Here is a totally insane emoji”. 

“A striking fist, a flag with stars and stripes, and a flame. Vice President JD Vance described the operation of conducting the airstrikes as ‘excellent’,” she added.

Malek Dudakov, a political scientist, often billed as an American expert, commented: “I am not surprised that American officials in this administration are using these private platforms.”

“This isn’t a government channel, not an official channel… I think those working in the Trump administration don’t trust official channels. They think that leaks could originate from there,” he added.

Also read | Trump continues to have ‘confidence in his national security team’: White House

Which chat do they want access to?

The Russian state TV hosts then noted that the Trump administration appeared to be preoccupied with the Middle East and seem to have relegated the Ukraine war to an afterthought.

“Nothing was said about Ukraine there. This was a chat about the Houthis,” noted Skabeyeva.

Also read | Trump Houthi attack plan: What did the leaked Yemen strike chat ‘reveal’?

“He is mainly concerned with the situation in the Middle East. That’s why they’re rushing with the Ukraine issue.”

“We should certainly take advantage of that,” she noted.

Watch what they said here:

The leaked Signal chat featured big names like Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe.

(With inputs from agencies)