Politico: The vicious rivalries tearing apart Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon

A feud between the secretary’s advisers and his chief of staff created backbiting and distrust that has erupted into the open.

When President Donald Trump chose Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, incoming officials knew they’d need to surround the inexperienced Fox News host with accomplished staff who could handle the nation’s largest bureaucracy. Hegseth would be the show horse, they figured, and others at the top would keep the Pentagon on track.

What happened was the opposite. Hegseth surrounded himself with advisers who quickly turned into vicious rivals for power — whose bitter brawl has now unraveled into revenge power plays, surprise firings, accusations of leaking and embarrassing headlines that are blowing up the Pentagon, distracting from Trump’s agenda and possibly jeopardizing Hegseth’s job.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Just consider that they’re not starting with the finest of people.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/22/pentagon-infighting-hegseth-fired-officials-00302709

New York Times: Under Hegseth, Chaos Prevails at the Pentagon

The defense secretary’s inner circle is in disarray, and distrust is growing among civil servants and senior military officials.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at the Pentagon in January with almost no government experience and huge ambitions to remake the way the military was being run.

In just three months in office, Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has instead produced a run of chaos that is unmatched in the recent history of the Defense Department.

Mr. Hegseth’s inner circle of close advisers — military veterans who, like him, had little experience running large, complex organizations — is in a shambles. Three members of the team he brought with him into the Pentagon were accused last week of leaking unauthorized information and escorted from the building.

A fourth recently departed member of Mr. Hegseth’s team, John Ullyot, who had been his top spokesman, accused Mr. Hegseth of disloyalty and incompetence in an opinion essay in Politico on Sunday. “The building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” Mr. Ullyot wrote.

The discord, according to current and former defense officials, includes: screaming matches in his inner office among aides; a growing distrust of the thousands of military and civilian personnel who staff the building; and bureaucratic logjams that have slowed down progress on some of President Trump’s key priorities, such as an “Iron Dome for America” missile-defense shield. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal business.

Cry me a river! Even better, resign and self-deport to somewhere, anywhere!

https://archive.is/I0kbS

Axios World: Hegseth hunkers down as White House accuses “entire” Pentagon of sabotage

From the “I’m not paranoid, they really are out to get me” department:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is locked in open warfare with his own Pentagon, a hotbed of distrust and dysfunction that commands the most powerful military on the face of the Earth.

No Trump Cabinet official has endured more turmoil in less time than Hegseth, who survived a nasty confirmation battle only to be burned — again and again — by leaks, blunders and now backlash from his own handpicked aides.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1DndAo

Mediaite: Pete Hegseth Defiantly Blames ‘Deep State’ for Pentagon Dysfunction and Leaks: ‘They’ve Come for Me Since Day 1!’

Somebody please call a whambulance for this crybaby dufus:

A defiant Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared on Fox & Friends, the morning show he used to co-host, and seemingly blamed everyone else for the current dysfunction unfolding at the Pentagon since he took over.

Hegseth is coming off a string of tough news cycles that started with the apparent firing of some top aides he brought in to help run the Defense Department on Friday: a damning Politico column written by one of the outgoing and now-former staff members, which called Hegseth’s tenure “total chaos” and a stunning New York Times report that he had shared classified information with his wife, brother, and lawyer on the commercial app, Signal.

Washington Post: Pete Hegseth, isolated and defiant, has Trump’s backing for now

A dirtbag that only King Donald would keep around:

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed a deepening controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth, declaring the embattled defense secretary is “doing a great job” despite seismic dysfunction within the Pentagon amid political infighting, numerous firings, and reports he divulged to his wife, brother and lawyer the highly sensitive details of an imminent military operation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1DlEUv

Robert Reich: Ineptitude, incompetence, stupidity, and chaos

Trump is fundamentally incapable of governing. That’s the theme that unites everything.

Some Democrats fear they’re playing into Trump’s hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.

But it’s not either-or. The theme that unites Trump’s inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.

In his first term, not only did his advisers and Cabinet officials put guardrails around his crazier tendencies, but they also provided his first administration a degree of stability and focus. Now, it’s mayhem.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ineptitude-incompetence-stupidity

Reuters: Pentagon says leak probe may lead to U.S. prosecutions

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Tuesday of possible prosecutions of former senior advisors who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed.

F*ck*ng hypocrite! Look in the mirror and prosecute yourself!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-says-leak-probe-may-lead-us-prosecutions-2025-04-22

MeidasTouch News: White House Initiates Search for New Secretary of Defense, Report

In a stunning turn of events, NPR is reporting that the White House has begun the process of seeking a new Secretary of Defense, according to a U.S. official who spoke under condition of anonymity. This development follows a rapidly escalating crisis within the Department of Defense, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faces mounting scrutiny and calls for his resignation amid a series of scandals and growing dysfunction at the Pentagon.

I guess the drunken wifebeater isn’t working out?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-initiates-search-for-new-secretary-of-defense-report/ar-AA1DkWLh

WCCO Radio: Hegseth had a second Signal chat where he shared details of Yemen strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemen’s Houthi militants that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, both The New York Times reported and CBS News has confirmed.

The second chat on Signal — which is a commercially available app not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information — included 13 people, the person said. The person also confirmed the chat was dubbed “Defense ‘ Team Huddle.”

The New York Times reported that the group included Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, who is a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser. Both have traveled with the defense secretary and attended high-level meetings.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hegseth-had-a-second-signal-chat-where-he-shared-details-of-yemen-strike/ar-AA1DjQgV

Kyiv Independent: Trump officials ‘fed up’ with Europe’s efforts to strengthen Ukraine, Economist reports

Some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.

Kyiv’s European partners have sought to present a united front on Ukraine, pledging additional assistance and preparing a “reassurance force” of troops to monitor a potential ceasefire.

As Trump’s Amerika slides into international irrelevance …

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-officials-fed-up-with-europe-s-efforts-to-strengthen-ukraine-economist-reports/ar-AA1D2afd