Pete Hegseth‘s tenure at the Pentagon has reached a new level of Shakespearean drama complete with back-stabbing aides, battling rivalries, an ambitious wife and an internal civil war involving the future of America’s military.
Most striking about this drama are the players themselves.
It’s members of Hegseth’s own team, including longtime friend and allies, who are turning against him, telling tales of chaos, meltdowns and inappropriate behavior in the halls of the Defense Department.
And looming behind him, urging him on, is his most ardent defender: his third wife Jennifer.
The conclusion of this farce remains in doubt: will Hegseth be able to retain his position as defense secretary or will he find himself becoming the first Cabinet casualty of President Donald Trump‘s administration?
Trump has expressed his backing for Hegseth – for now – but the president can be famously fickle and has little patience for drama that is not of his own making.
Hegseth, meanwhile, has gone on the attack in a frantic effort to save his job.
He went on Trump’s favorite TV network – Fox News – for a fiery interview where he accused ‘disgruntled’ former employees of trying to kill Trump’s agenda.
But the bad headlines continue to dog him, including a report that he spent thousands of tax payer dollars to modify a room at the Pentagon into his personal makeup studio for TV appearances.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is fighting for his political future
The renovations cost several thousand dollars, CBS News reported. The changes included the installation of a large mirror with makeup lighting and new furniture.
The Defense Department pushed back on the ‘makeup studio’ report, calling it fake news.
‘The items that were added to the GREEN ROOM (not a makeup studio) came from existing inventory. This story is TRASH!’ the Department’s Rapid Response account wrote on X.
According to CBS News, among those pushing for the renovation was Hegseth’s wife Jennifer, a former Fox producer, who expressed her approval for the upgrade before it started.
Jennifer Hegseth was also in a Signal chat where her husband shared details about sensitive military operations.
She does not work at the Pentagon nor does she have a security clearance.
Jennifer is a trusted adviser to her husband and was a constant presence at his side during his Senate confirmation hearings, when his nomination was in danger because of allegations about his treatment of women and his drinking.
‘She attended every single one of his meetings with Republican senators, which we’re not aware of any nominee for any nominated position doing,’ a Senate aide told CNN.
The aide noted female senators were frustrated by Jennifer’s presence because they wanted to ask Hegseth about allegations of sexual assault.
But her presence ‘totally changed the dynamic’ of the conversations around those allegations, the aide said.
And Jennifer has even attended sensitive meetings at the Pentagon, including one last month with the UK’s two top defense officials about the Trump administration’s decision to stop sharing military intelligence with Ukraine.
According to CBS News, among those pushing for the renovation was Hegseth’s wife Jennifer, a former Fox producer, who expressed her approval for the upgrade before it started
The woman behind the man: Jennifer sits behind husband Pete Hegseth at a Pentagon meeting with British officials
But, though his wife has come under much scrutiny, some of the blame is starting to come back around to the defense secretary himself as officials describe a Pentagon in ‘meltdown’ mode.
‘There is a complete meltdown in the building, and this is really reflecting on the secretary’s leadership,’ a person familiar with the matter told Politico. ‘Pete Hegseth has surrounded himself with some people who don’t have his interests at heart.’
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, had no executive experience when Trump nominated him to lead America’s military.
His attempt to surround himself with experienced advisers quickly backfired, however, as the inner circle devolved into a bitter brawl of power plays and back stabbing.
And it was all due to ‘personality conflicts,’ Politico reported.
The friends Hegseth brought in to help him turned into rivals, fighting for influence and creating an atmosphere of distrust.
Getting a lot of the blame was Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s departing chief of staff, who is accused of creating a toxic workplace culture and pushing three senior staffers out of the Pentagon.
Those firings, officials told Politico, were an attempt by Kasper to consolidate power. Kasper denied these allegations.
But officials described his style as ‘juvenile’ and claimed he ‘graphically described his bowel movements to colleagues in one high-level meeting.’
During that meeting, ‘he turned [and] he goes, ‘Can I just tell everyone around this table that I just took an enormous s*** right before coming in here?’ two people who were present told the news outlet.
‘People were like, ‘what? Like, this is a business meeting,’ an official said.
Kasper told Politico the story was taken out of context, and that he was joking that the team was ‘in major s***-con,’ a play on words suggesting they were in trouble.
But Kasper has been moved from his chief of staff job to another position in the department.
Joe Kasper has been moved from his chief of staff job to another position in the Pentagon
President Donald Trump is standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (foreground) for now
The defense secretary, for his part, cast the blame on his senior staff who were escorted out of Pentagon by security last week.
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.
It was said to be part of a leak investigation – an investigation that Kasper started.
Caldwell, in particular, was close to Hegseth. The two men, close in age and both veterans, worked together at Concerned Veterans of America.
And Caldwell was by Hegseth’s side on Capitol Hill as the former Fox News host fought to keep his nomination alive during concerns about his behavior.
Additionally, Caldwell was seen as a type-A go-getter who could get the job done.
‘Kasper did not like that those guys had the secretary’s ear,’ a source said to Politico of the three senior aides. ‘He did not like that they had walk-in and hanging-out privileges in the office. He wanted them out. It was a knife fight.’
Hegseth has appeared to turn on them too.
He accused these former staffers of trying to ‘sabotage’ Trump’s agenda and said the ‘deep state’ was working against him.
‘They have come after me from day one like they have come after President Trump. I’ve gotten a fraction of what President Trump has endured,’ he told Fox and Friends. ‘It is not hard to do this job, I know exactly why I’m here.’
‘Folks leaking and pushed out are attempting to leak and sabotage the president’s agenda and what we’re doing,’ Hegseth said. ‘It is unfortunate, it is not what I do, not how we operate.’
Dan Caldwell (pictured left) gave his first public interview to Tucker Carlson (right) and denied leaking anything before saying he was telling establishment Pentagon staffers things they didn’t want to hear
Caldwell gave his first public interview to Tucker Carlson on Monday and denied leaking anything and claimed he was telling establishment Pentagon staffers things they didn’t want to hear.
He said the investigation was ‘weaponized’ against him because he ‘threatened’ established ideas within the Pentagon’s walls.
‘I was out there advancing things that a lot of people in the foreign policy establishment didn’t want,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t justify what’s happening to me but let’s just be honest that is the nature of the games played in D.C.’
He also inferred that insider in-fighting led to the firing of his colleagues Selnick and Carroll.
