Trump Goes to Bat for Pete Hegseth and Blames the ‘Bad People’ He Hired Then Fired After Being Asked About Second Security Lapse
President Donald Trump defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday following a new round of scrutiny over Hegseth’s handling of sensitive military information and turmoil inside the Pentagon.
“Pete’s doing a great job,” Trump told reporters during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday. “Just ask the Houthis how he’s doing.”
Trump brushed off reports that Hegseth shared operational details about U.S. military activity in Yemen through a personal Signal chat that included his wife and brother.
“It’s just fake news,” Trump said. “They just bring up stories. It sounds like disgruntled employees.”
The president went on to suggest that recent leaks and public criticism of Hegseth are coming from former staffers who were let go but who were also hired by Hegseth when he took the job and purged existing personnel.
“He was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing,” Trump said of his Pentagon head. “You don’t always have friends when you do that.”
Hegseth is not only facing criticism following two reported security incidents involving the Signal app.
Internal upheaval at the Pentagon has drawn attention to the DoD head.
Last week, it was announced that Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, was stepping down. Three other top aides were fired Friday amid an ongoing leak investigation.
Two of them are reportedly preparing lawsuits for wrongful termination.
On Sunday, former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot also published an op-ed criticizing Hegseth’s leadership, calling it “strange and baffling” and alleging widespread dysfunction.
Hegseth addressed the chaos in his own comments at the Easter Egg Roll on Monday.
“You know, what a big surprise that a bunch of, a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won’t give back their Pulitzers,” he said.
Hegseth added, “They’ve got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies, Pulitzers for a bunch of lies, and on hoaxes time and time and again, and as they peddle those lies, no one ever calls them on it.”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
