Did you have 2FA on this account already? If not, they're basically just forcing you into 2FA, and the easiest way to get most people on 2FA is via text messag

Did you have 2FA on this account already? If not, they're basically just forcing you into 2FA, and the easiest way to get most people on 2FA is via text message. They're not going to tell everyone to go download Google Authenticator. I don't blame them for wanting everyone on 2FA, especially for an email provider. There are a million ways your password could be stolen, and they'd rather that their system was secure from the start rather than dealing with the fallout of an account takeover. You should be able to go into your account settings and remove the phone number after you enable another 2FA method. If you are on 2FA already, that is strange.