Pete Hegseth Roasted Over ‘Huge F*ck Up’ and Clean Up on Ukraine Negotiations: ‘Amateur Hour’

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth raised eyebrows on Thursday when he walked back some of his comments on Ukraine from the day prior, specifically ruling out Ukraine joining NATO.

Nick Schifrin, PBS’s foreign affairs and defense correspondent, reported on Hegseth’s comments during a presser at the NATO summit in Brussels. Schifrin wrote on X, “BREAKING: @SecDef walks back his statement yesterday that a negotiated settlement is not likely to end with Ukraine in NATO.” He then quoted Hegseth, a former Fox News morning show host, saying:

These negotiations are led by Donald Trump. Everything is on the table. In his conversations with Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, what he decides to allow or not allow, is at the purview of the leader of the free world–President Trump. So I’m not going to stand at this podium and declare what President Trump will do or won’t do, what will be in or what will be out, what concessions will be made or what concessions are not made.

Hegseth made news on Wednesday by declaring “we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective” and arguing that Ukraine joining NATO was not likely.

Many pundits and observers slammed Hegseth after he walked back the comments, arguing that he had given up leverage to Russia without gaining any concessions.

The National Review’s Mark Antonio Wright shared Schifrin’s post and wrote, “The SECDEF’s not a “realistic outcome” comment on Ukraine and NATO membership was in his prepared remarks. Amateur hour from @PeteHegseth and his staff.”

The Economist’s Shashank Joshi added, “Hegseth’s lack of experience is already showing. Publicly makes a series of pre-emptive concessions prior to the most important negotiations in many years, and then has to publicly explain that he had no authority to say any of those things.”

Former Obama aide and podcaster Tommy Vietor argued, “This was a huge fuckup by Hegseth. There’s no walking back his initial comments that Ukraine won’t join NATO or gain back all the territory lost since 2014. He wrote Putin a big check that has already been cashed. Maybe don’t make an unqualified Fox News host @SecDef?”

President Donald Trump also made headlines this week with comments he made to Fox News saying, “They (Ukraine) may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.” Trump, however, also promised to keep sending U.S. military aid to Ukraine indefinitely while taking questions in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Below are some additional reactions:

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