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The White House is in steady with the support of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses amid media coverage of his impending ouster.
Hegseth has once again attracted scrutiny after reporting Sunday that the New York Times had disclosed details about Yemen’s March military airstrike in a signal messaging app group chat that includes his wife, brothers and lawyers, before being scrutinized by personal phone calls before his confirmation. Hegseth claims that information classified via signals is not disclosed.
The incident follows a similar episode in March, with Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a signal group chat with other high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Hegses and Vice President JD Vance, debating the same attack on the Hoosis. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz later took “full responsibility” for the chat blunder.
However, the White House said it supports Heggs and claimed he has been facing a “smear campaign” since Trump tapped him for the post in December 2024.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses rejects new group chat claims in an attempt to “scatter” Trump’s agenda
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses is being scrutinized in a new report on his use of signal chats to discuss his airstrikes, including his wife and brother. (Franco Brana/AFP via Getty Images)
“The Secretary of Defense has done an incredible job, and he’s bringing monumental changes to the Pentagon, and there are many people in cities that reject monumental changes. Frankly, we told Senator Carolyn Lee Raybitt that we’ve seen the smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment President Trump announced his appointment before the US Senator.
“Again. The President stands strongly behind the changes he is bringing to the Pentagon and the results he has achieved so far speak for itself,” Leavitt said.
Heggs has been hit with backlash, especially since Trump announced his nomination to lead the pentagon, after allegations of sexual assault and alcohol misuse surfaced. In response, Heggs told the hearing he was not “the perfect person” at the confirmation hearing, but claimed he was subject to a “media-organized, coordinated smear campaign.”
In the end, Democrats didn’t vote to confirm Hegses. In contrast, Democrats who voted against Trump’s first Secretary of Defense in 2016 retired General Jim Mattis.
Hegseth led several reforms, including a series of efforts to curb diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the Pentagon, which he says is following executive orders from the Trump administration.
NPR reported Monday that the White House was paying attention to the new Secretary of Defense, but Leavitt immediately closed the report and labeled the report “Fake News.” NPR’s stories were based on anonymous US authorities who were not permitted to speak to the media.
Meanwhile, Hegseth argues that the second signal chat does not include a “war plan” in his first signal chat, and that all the arguments made through the signal are uncategorized. According to the Associated Press, Hegses’ brother Phil worked as Homeland Security Liaison Office and Senior Advisor in Group Chat. It also included Tim Paratore, a longtime personal lawyer for the Secretary of Defense, who was commissioned as commander of the Navy Judge’s defense general just before the Times chat, according to the Times Report.
“I’ve said it over and over, no one’s texting the war plan,” Heggs told Fox News Tuesday. “I look at war plans every day. What was shared about signals back then characterizes it, but it was an informal, uncategorized adjustment, such as media adjustments. That’s what I said from the start.”
Meanwhile, even some of Hegseth’s Orbit predict that he will not stay in his post for much longer.
John Urito, a former senior communications officer for the Pentagon, who resigned under Hegses in April, was Aral and “billing” the chief of staff for his assistant Dan Caldwell, his assistant chief of staff, Darling Sernick, and Deputy Secretary of Defense, who resigned under Hegses in April, who was acute Friday shootings of three of Hegses’ “most loyal” advisors.
“Currently, dysfunction is a major distraction for the president. He deserves better from a senior leader,” Uriot wrote during Politico’s Sunday surgery.
“Trump has a strong record to explain his top staff,” he wrote. “With that in mind, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegses staying in his role for so long.”
According to The Times, Caldwell and Selnick were included in their second Hegseth Group Chat.
Hegseth shared details of Yemen Strike on the Second Signal Chat: Report
Senator Jack Reed is calling for an investigation into the use of Hegses’ signals. (Reuters)
Senate Democrats are also asking for Hegses to step down. Sen. Jack Reid, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Pentagon inspectors to implement a report on Heggs’ use of signal chat.
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“Since he was appointed, I have warned that Hegses lacked the experience, ability and character to run the Department of Defense,” Reid said in a statement Sunday. “Under Hegses’ leadership, those objections appear to have been fully discovered in light of ongoing disruption, dysfunction and mass shootings.”
“Accountability starts at the top and I have serious concerns about Secretary Hegses’ ability to maintain the trust and trust of U.S. service members,” he said.
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