WASHINGTON – The White House is reportedly looking to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to NPR.
The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, NPR reports per a U.S. official in an exclusive story.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X in response, calling the story “fake news based on one anonymous source.”
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth shared information on Yemen strikes with his wife and brother in a Signal chat on his personal phone.
These latest headlines come about a month after another Signal chat discussing military action, which came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.
The contents of that chat, which The Atlantic published, shows that Hegseth listed weapons systems and a timeline for the attack on Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen last month.
The other side:
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told FOX & Friends Monday morning that President Donald Trump “stands strongly behind Pete Hegseth” and that he is “doing phenomenal leading the Pentagon.”
“This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement,” said Leavitt.
Hegseth addressed the latest in the Signal story at the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday.
“Big surprise that a few leakers get fired, and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth said. “We’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters. Slash and burn doesn’t work with me.”
Sunday evening, the White House dismissed the story of the second Signal chat as a “non-story.”
“No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared,” said Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary. “Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The Source: This story references reports from NPR and the New York Times, and includes a social media post from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, as well as sound from a FOX & Friends interview and the White House Easter Egg Roll.
