Pete Hegseth

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Trump: Hegseth Is 'Doing a Great Job'

GOP lawmaker says defense secretary should be fired over latest reports of Signal leak

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is rumored to be in danger of losing his job over the latest reports of sensitive information being shared in a Signal chat, but President Trump said Monday that he is "doing a great job. Just ask the Houthis how he's doing." Trump,...

Report: Hegseth Shared Attack Info in Another Signal Chat

This one reportedly included his wife, brother, personal lawyer

(Newser) - Signalgate is expanding: Four people tell the New York Times that, in addition to the infamous Signal chat that inadvertently included a journalist, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also used the messaging app to send sensitive military information to his wife, brother, and personal lawyer. The sources say that on March...

Report: 3rd Pentagon Aide Placed on Leave in Leaks Probe

Department of Defense has been investigating leaks to the media

(Newser) - Source say three senior Pentagon officials have now been placed on leave amid a probe into media leaks from the Department of Defense. The first was Dan Caldwell, one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's senior advisers, who was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday. Another Hegseth...

Report: Security Took Hegseth Aide Out of Pentagon

Sources tell Reuters Dan Caldwell was identified in investigation of leaks

(Newser) - A top aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday after he was identified in an investigation of leaks of sensitive information, sources tell outlets including Reuters and Fox News . The sources say Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth's senior advisors, has...

Hegseth Vows to 'Take Back' Panama Canal
Hegseth Vows
to 'Take Back'
Panama Canal
THE RUNDOWN
Apr 9, 2025 10:20 AM CDT

Hegseth Vows to 'Take Back' Panama Canal

He wants to free it from 'China's influence,' a remark that China isn't too pleased about

(Newser) - "China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. [A]nd China will not weaponize this canal. Together, we will take back the Panama Canal from China's influence." Those were Pete Hegseth's fighting words on Tuesday during his visit to Panama—the first by...

Female Admiral at NATO Who Was on 'Woke' List Gets Fired

Diversity support linked to removal, which marks third top female firing

(Newser) - The Trump administration has, for the third time, fired a top female military officer. US Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the sole woman on NATO's military committee, was ousted over the weekend, reportedly due to her support for diversity in the military, the AP reports. Sources say Adm....

Pentagon Watchdog Launches Hegseth Probe

Defense secretary's use of messaging app is being investigated after a request from senators

(Newser) - The Pentagon inspector general's office says it has launched a probe of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his use of Signal to discuss military strikes—which was exposed when a journalist was accidentally added to the chat. In a Thursday l etter to Hegseth , acting Inspector General Steven Stebbin...

Hegseth: No More Fitness Breaks for Women in Combat

Says women must pass the same tests as men

(Newser) - A new order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to majorly reduce the number of US women in combat positions, per the New York Times . In an order dated Sunday, Hegseth mandated that the physical fitness requirements for all combat positions be "sex-neutral" by the end of October...

Hegseth Involves Wife, Brother in Pentagon

Jennifer Hegseth has attended meetings with foreign military officials, and Phil Hegseth now has a Defense job

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who's under criticism for not maintaining security in planning strikes in Yemen, brought his wife along to two meetings with foreign officials for discussions of sensitive military information. Jennifer Hegseth, a former producer for Fox News, is not an employee of the Defense Department, and...

Clinton Has a One-Word Take on Trump Administration

'Dumb,' former secretary of state says of Signal breach, many other moves Team Trump has made

(Newser) - "Dumb" is the operative word in Hillary Clinton's latest op-ed for the New York Times , in which she takes on former rival President Trump and his administration for "a string of self-inflicted wounds" since he took office, including the headline-making Signal breach that DOD chief Pete Hegseth,...

'Attack Plans' Versus 'War Plans'


Legal Angle
Emerges
in Signal
Controversy
the rundown
Mar 27, 2025 11:39 AM CDT

Legal Angle Emerges in Signal Controversy

And Trump nemesis Boasberg has been assigned the case

(Newser) - The White House is digging in on the Signal breach controversy, insisting that the information discussed in a text group wasn't as sensitive as critics allege. For proof, press chief Karoline Leavitt noted that a new Atlantic headline refers to "attack plans" instead of "war plans" and...

GOP Senators Join Calls for Probe of Signal Breach

Trump says it's 'all a witch hunt'

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling for an inspector general investigation of the Signal breach. After the release Wednesday of the full exchange between top-level officials discussing a strike on Yemen, Wicker said he and Sen. Jack Reed, the panel's top Democrat,...

The Atlantic Releases Group War Texts

Says it now believes public 'should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions'

(Newser) - Two days after revealing that its editor-in-chief was included in a group chat where high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussed plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Atlantic has published those attack plans. As Jeffrey Goldberg, said editor-in-chief, and staff writer Shane Harris write, in the first...

Pentagon Had Warned Against Using Signal

Department repeated the warning last week, saying Russian hackers are targeting the app

(Newser) - Three days after a journalist was accidentally looped into a Signal group chat with top national security officials discussing military strikes in Yemen, the Pentagon warned the app should not be used even to discuss unclassified information. The department-wide advisory dated March 18 warned Signal's use by "common...

Fallout Intensifies After Bizarre Text Breach

Question is whether Trump will fire Mike Waltz after a journalist was accidentally looped into war chat

(Newser) - After the extraordinary revelation that a journalist was accidentally looped into a group chat on US war plans, the big question in DC on Tuesday is whether national security adviser Mike Waltz will keep his job, reports Politico . So far, the White House is standing by him publicly after it...

Journalist Was Accidentally Included in War Plan Chat

Democrats call it an 'outrageous national security breach'

(Newser) - In what Democratic lawmakers say was an "outrageous national security breach," the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic was included in a group chat where high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussed plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen . Jeffrey Goldberg says that on March 15, Defense Secretary Pete...

Hegseth: Musk Didn't See 'Secret' War Plan on China

President Trump also denies that DOGE leader was privy to classified plan

(Newser) - A Thursday report in the New York Times claiming Elon Musk would be briefed by the Pentagon on top-secret war plans against China is now getting pushback, including from President Trump. First, per the Guardian , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday denied Musk saw any such plans during an early...

Navajo Code Talkers Returned to Military Websites

Web pages had been removed as part of DEI crackdown

(Newser) - Some military web pages referencing the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans were restored Wednesday after tribes condemned their removal as part of the Trump administration's push to remove any and all content it deems DEI-adjacent. "In the rare cases that content is removed—either deliberately...

Report: Trump Asks Pentagon to Look at Panama Canal Options

Administration wants DOD to draw up 'credible military options' for 'unfettered' US access to canal

(Newser) - Panama's leader has been pushing back hard on President Trump's insistence on "reclaiming" the Panama Canal for the United States, going so far as to accuse him of lying, but that hasn't stopped Trump from moving forward with his ultimate plans for the Central American waterway....

Hegseth Is Overhauling Military's JAG Legal Corps

Aim is to loosen restrictions on battlefield decisions

(Newser) - New defense chief Pete Hegseth plans a fundamental overhaul of the military's legal system to give soldiers more leeway on the battlefield, reports the Guardian . Hegseth took the first step last month by firing the top legal officers for the Army, Air Force, and Navy—the judge advocates general...

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