Exclusive: The White House is looking to replace Pete Hegseth as defense secretary

[essentialsaltes]

Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons shipments caught White House off guard​

The story of how flights were canceled [shortly after the start of Trump 2.0], detailed by Reuters for the first time, points to an at-times haphazard policy-making process within the Trump administration and a command structure that is unclear even to its own ranking members.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the U.S. Transportation Command, known as TRANSCOM, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

Top national security officials — in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department — couldn’t provide answers. Within one week, flights were back in the air.

The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, according to TRANSCOM records reviewed by Reuters.

During the [Oval Office Ukraine] meeting, the idea of stopping Ukraine aid came up, said two people with knowledge of the meeting, but the president issued no instruction to stop aid to Ukraine.

The president was unaware of Hegseth’s order, as were other top national security officials in the meeting, according to two sources briefed on the private White House discussions and another with direct knowledge of the matter.

Three sources familiar with the situation said Hegseth misinterpreted discussions with the president about Ukraine policy and aid shipments without elaborating further.

Asked to comment on this report, the White House told Reuters that Hegseth had followed a directive from Trump to pause aid to Ukraine, which it said was the administration's position at the time. It did not explain why, according to those who spoke to Reuters, top national security officials in the normal decision making process didn’t know about the order or why it was so swiftly reversed.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Talk about a shadow government.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons shipments caught White House off guard​

The story of how flights were canceled [shortly after the start of Trump 2.0], detailed by Reuters for the first time, points to an at-times haphazard policy-making process within the Trump administration and a command structure that is unclear even to its own ranking members.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the U.S. Transportation Command, known as TRANSCOM, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

Top national security officials — in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department — couldn’t provide answers. Within one week, flights were back in the air.

The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, according to TRANSCOM records reviewed by Reuters.

During the [Oval Office Ukraine] meeting, the idea of stopping Ukraine aid came up, said two people with knowledge of the meeting, but the president issued no instruction to stop aid to Ukraine.

The president was unaware of Hegseth’s order, as were other top national security officials in the meeting, according to two sources briefed on the private White House discussions and another with direct knowledge of the matter.

Three sources familiar with the situation said Hegseth misinterpreted discussions with the president about Ukraine policy and aid shipments without elaborating further.

Asked to comment on this report, the White House told Reuters that Hegseth had followed a directive from Trump to pause aid to Ukraine, which it said was the administration's position at the time. It did not explain why, according to those who spoke to Reuters, top national security officials in the normal decision making process didn’t know about the order or why it was so swiftly reversed.

Who among us hasn't missed important things at work because we were drunk and playing on our phone during a meeting?

 

[Hans Blaster]

Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons shipments caught White House off guard​

The story of how flights were canceled [shortly after the start of Trump 2.0], detailed by Reuters for the first time, points to an at-times haphazard policy-making process within the Trump administration and a command structure that is unclear even to its own ranking members.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the U.S. Transportation Command, known as TRANSCOM, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

Top national security officials — in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department — couldn’t provide answers. Within one week, flights were back in the air.

The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, according to TRANSCOM records reviewed by Reuters.

During the [Oval Office Ukraine] meeting, the idea of stopping Ukraine aid came up, said two people with knowledge of the meeting, but the president issued no instruction to stop aid to Ukraine.

The president was unaware of Hegseth’s order, as were other top national security officials in the meeting, according to two sources briefed on the private White House discussions and another with direct knowledge of the matter.

Three sources familiar with the situation said Hegseth misinterpreted discussions with the president about Ukraine policy and aid shipments without elaborating further.

Asked to comment on this report, the White House told Reuters that Hegseth had followed a directive from Trump to pause aid to Ukraine, which it said was the administration's position at the time. It did not explain why, according to those who spoke to Reuters, top national security officials in the normal decision making process didn’t know about the order or why it was so swiftly reversed.

If there are a few "traditional" ways in which Trump turns on subordinates in the same way that most political leaders do they definitely include making him look bad and going against his wishes/orders. For what ever reason, Trump decided to only hold arms shipments to Ukraine for a fairly brief period (around the time of Zelenskyy's visit, probably related to making a deal), and has since resumed previously funded shipments and is talking about weapons sales to Ukraine.

We'll see of "oopsy-doodles" works for Hegseth here like it did for the Signal messaging fiasco. (Which has gotten worse since it seems clear that WH/Admin officials have been using versions with broken security features.)

 

[essentialsaltes]

We'll see of "oopsy-doodles" works for Hegseth here like it did for the Signal messaging fiasco.

Certainly the Trump team must have figured out that Hegseth was responsible back when it happened at the end of January.

But now the world knows.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Certainly the Trump team must have figured out that Hegseth was responsible back when it happened at the end of January.

But now the world knows.

I did see something this morning about Hegseth's top military aide having entered at least some of restricted info into chats over Signal. It feels like they might be setting the aide up as a fall guy, but as the commentator that alerted me to this wrote: "Fire the aide too".

 

[wing2000]

We'll see of "oopsy-doodles" works for Hegseth here like it did for the Signal messaging fiasco. (Which has gotten worse since it seems clear that WH/Admin officials have been using versions with broken security features.)

IMO - he'll be gone by July...maybe after the July 4th coronation...err celebration.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Team Trump confronts yet another schism: Sean Duffy vs. Pete Hegseth​

In the abstract, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seem like the kind of Cabinet officials who’d get along. They’re both middle-aged Republicans from the Midwest. They’re both former Fox News personalities. They’re both married to women who also used to work at Fox News. They were both confirmed to important jobs they’re unqualified to hold.

[The conflict is over the incidents at DCA with military helicopters running into (or threatening to run into) passenger planes.]

When Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked if [Duffy] had any additional information from the Pentagon about the flyover, Duffy said, “I don’t.” MacCallum noted she didn’t understand why the Pentagon “hasn’t gotten back to you on this yet. But we hope they sure do soon.” “So do I,” Duffy replied.

One Defense Department insider told Politico that Cabinet secretaries traditionally communicate directly when there’s an issue, but that in this “new era” of the Trump administration, they “go on Fox News.”

 

[Always in His Presence]

Today is May 13th and Hegseth is still in office.

 

[Bradskii]

Today is May 13th and Hegseth is still in office.

It still doesn't read like you think it does.

 

[essentialsaltes]

'cold war' between top Hegseth aides causes Pentagon chaos​

The conflict has persisted for months, even after Hegseth purged some political appointees in April, and the tension has resulted in dysfunction and paranoia at the highest levels of the Department of Defense

The relationship between top aides Eric Geressy and Ricky Buria is especially fraught, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

"Geressy, a retired soldier whom Hegseth has credited with mentoring him when they served together in Iraq, has voiced repeated concerns that Buria — until recently a military assistant to the defense secretary — has sought to marginalize colleagues to boost his own standing within the Trump administration," the Post reported, based on comments by current and former officials.

Buria, a former Marine Corps pilot who served as "body man" to former defense secretary Lloyd Austin, quickly gained new power and responsibility under Hegseth, —whose influential wife, Jennifer, has been a staunch backer. Sources say he is functioning as acting Pentagon chief of staff, and is increasingly frustrated the White House doesn't seem to want him in that role permanently.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Claim of Illegal NSA Wiretap Bombshell in Hegseth Probe Rattles White House​

The Trump White House is in damage control after shocking claims that an illegal NSA wiretap was used in a leak investigation led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

According to The Guardian, top officials told Vice President JD Vance that the Defense Department used a “warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap” to identify and fire senior Hegseth adviser Dan Caldwell, along with two others. The revelation sent shockwaves through the administration, raising serious questions about how far the Pentagon was willing to go to find a leaker.

White House officials say the wiretap claim turned out to be false — but the damage was already done. They are now accusing Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, of feeding them bad information. The Guardian reported that officials “complained that they were being fed dubious information by Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who had been tasked with overseeing the investigation.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons shipments caught White House off guard​

Hegseth to skip Ukraine meeting at NATO headquarters​

The Defense secretary’s absence marks the first time in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s history that a Pentagon chief misses the monthly meeting.

Maybe he'll send his wife to take the meeting?

 

[Always in His Presence]

It is June 5, 2023 and Pete Hegseth is still in office - but it looks like NPR is being defunded.

When will people lear not to accept rumor as truth?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Investigators looking at who sent Hegseth's Signal texts, whether they were told to delete them, sources say​

Pentagon investigators are looking into whether Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally wrote the text messages detailing the military’s plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen or whether other staffers typed out those details, according to two people familiar with the ongoing probe.

It remains unclear how soon the findings will be released.

The details were relayed in two chat groups that included Hegseth - one with Vice President JD Vance and other high-ranking officials, and a second one that included Hegseth's wife, who is not employed by the government.

Much of the same content was shared in the second encrypted chat with family members and others -- a chat group that Hegseth had created on his personal phone during his confirmation process that included his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, the two officials told ABC News.

 

[Always in His Presence]

It is June 7, 2025 - Pete Hegseth is still in office and NPR was wrong.

 

[DaisyDay]

It is June 7, 2025 - Pete Hegseth is still in office and NPR was wrong.

Yes,NPR was wrong in predicting that Hegseth's gross incompetence and security flouting would be punished rather than rewarded.

 

[Bradskii]

It is June 7, 2025 - Pete Hegseth is still in office and NPR was wrong.

Yeah, I can't believe it either.

 

[Always in His Presence]

Yeah, I can't believe it either.

Don’t worry there were a lot of people who put their faith in yet another unnamed source familiar with the conversation

 

[Pommer]

Don’t worry there were a lot of people who put their faith in yet another unnamed source familiar with the conversation

I am continually amazed at the apparent glee that you seem to have over this story being “wrong”.
I, myself, thought that a reasonable response to Senior Administration official’s lack of “good security” would have brought down a Department Chief.

But President Trump seems to given these roguish scamps a mulligan.
Why is that “good”?