Pete Hegseth underneath assault from ‘disgruntled staff,’ says Donald Trump
President Donald Trump stated Pete Hegseth is “doing an excellent job” regardless of what seem like assaults from “disgruntled staff,” because the protection secretary is buffeted by employees dismissals, a leak investigation and a report that he shared delicate army assault plans in a second unsecured chat group.
“Ask the Houthis a lot dysfunction there may be,” Trump advised reporters Monday through the annual Easter Egg roll on the White Home garden, referring to the army’s assaults on Houthi militants in Yemen.
The president’s assist got here after John Ullyot, who resigned final week after serving briefly as Pentagon spokesman, stated the Protection Division has been overwhelmed by employees drama and turnover within the preliminary months of the second Trump administration. He referred to as it a “full-blown meltdown” that would value the protection secretary his job.
The criticism from Ullyot adopted statements by three prime Protection Division officers who have been reportedly fired amid an inquiry into leaks. They stated they weren’t advised what they have been being investigated for or if there was even a leak probe underway.
Hegseth — a 44-year-old former Fox Information host and Nationwide Guard officer with a fight document however restricted administration expertise — was already underneath scrutiny for sharing confidential data in a Sign chat group detailing an imminent assault in opposition to the Houthis. The group included prime Trump administration officers in addition to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who wrote in regards to the episode after being included inadvertently.
Now, a second Sign chat has emerged during which Hegseth shared the details about the pending strikes in Yemen with a gaggle that included his spouse and brother, the New York Occasions reported.
Requested in regards to the second chat group, Trump stated “it’s the identical previous stuff from the media. That’s an previous one. Strive discovering one thing new.”
Hegseth stated Monday that the story “doesn’t matter” as a result of it’s based mostly on “nameless smears from disgruntled former staff on previous information.” He additionally expressed confidence in his job safety.
“I’ve spoken to the president, and we’re going to proceed combating,” he advised reporters on the White Home. “On the identical web page all the best way.”
Trump declined to take away Hegseth or Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz over the preliminary Sign chat, which was arrange by Waltz. The Pentagon’s inspector normal is probing that incident on the request of two prime senators.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, in an announcement posted to X, stated the Occasions and others “are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former staff as the only sources for his or her article. They relied solely on the phrases of people that have been fired this week and seem to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President’s agenda.”
“There was no categorised data in any Sign chat, irrespective of what number of methods they attempt to write the story,” Parnell stated.
