Pete Hegseth insisted on Monday he’s on the ‘same page’ as President Donald Trump as his jobs hangs in the balance after a second signal scandal.
The defense secretary shared detailed information about military strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, the New York Times reported this weekend.
But Hegseth told reporters at the White House that he’s spoken to the president and ‘we’re on the same page all the way.’
He also blasted the New York Times for the article noting it was written by the ‘same media that did the Russia hoax’ and who received ‘pulitzers for a bunch of lies.’
Hegseth was at the White House Easter Egg Roll, slipping onto the South Lawn of the White House with his wife Jennifer and his children.
His appearance comes as his tenure at the Pentagon is in trouble.
In addition to the revelation of a second Signal scandal, three senior staffers at the Defense Department were put on leave as part of leak investigation and the Pentagon’s former spokesman wrote in an op-ed this weekend that the department is in a ‘full-blown meltdown.’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporter at the White House he’s on the ‘same page’ as President Donald Trump
But his use of the Signal app to give friends and family details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis raises more questions about his use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details.
Unlike the first Signal scandal – where National Security Adviser Mike Waltz started a chat that included an editor of The Atlantic – Hegseth started the second one, which contained 13 people and was dubbed ‘Defense ‘ Team Huddle.’
The information shared ‘included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen,’ the Times reported.
Of the people on that chat, Hegseth’s wife Jennifer is a former producer at the Fox News, but is not an employee of the Defense Department.
His brother Phil and attorney Tim Parlatore do have jobs at the Pentagon but it is not clear if they are on a need-to-know basis regarding attacks. Phil Hegseth is a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
The White House is standing by Hegseth.
‘The President absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands behind him,’ press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House Monday morning.
President Donald Trump is standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
Former Pentagon spokemsan Joh Ullyot (pictured) warned the Pentagon is in ‘chaos’
But Hegseth received another blow when John Ullyot, the former spokesman who announced his resignation from the Pentagon on Wednesday, claimed the Defense Department is in ‘chaos.’
Writing an op-ed for Politico on Sunday, Ullyot knifed his old boss and exposed the chaos currently unfolding inside the Pentagon – before sharing his belief that Trump should fire Hegseth.
He noted he’s a ‘longtime backer of the secretary,’ and ‘value[s] his friendship.’
But he then let loose on Hegseht, saying the Pentagon is in ‘a full-blown meltdown’ and that has devolved into ‘total chaos.’
He added that ‘the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership.’
‘It’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,’ he added.
Meanwhile, three senior staffers were escorted out of Pentagon by security as part of leak investigation.
Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, was suspended a day after Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, were put on administrative leave.
The internal Pentagon investigation is looking into allegations of unauthorized disclosures of information.
The leak investigation at the Pentagon began on March 21 when Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, ordered the probe.
The probe included military operational plans for the Panama canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, the pausing the collection of intelligence to Ukraine, and the leak that Elon Musk’s would meet with Hegseth about the U.S. war plans for China, an official told Politico.
Kasper said the probe would examine ‘recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information’ and said polygraphs would be used.
He ordered the probe one day after the New York Times reported the Pentagon set up a briefing with Elon Musk on a potential war with China.
But now Kasper is leaving his chief of staff job and moving to another part of agency.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth uses his cellphone, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll event
And Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll put out a statement criticizing the leak.
‘We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended,’ the three men wrote.
‘Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door. All three of us served our country honorably in uniform – for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it.’
They noted they haven’t been told what the investigation is about.
‘At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of “leaks” to begin with. While this experience has been unconscionable, we remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administration’s mission to make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through strength. We hope in the future to support those efforts in different capacities,’ they said.
