Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brushed off former DoD chief spokesperson John Ullyot’s allegations that “total chaos” and “dysfunction” are occurring at the Pentagon during a Tuesday interview on “Fox & Friends.”
Politico published Ullyot’s op-ed titled, “Former Top Pentagon Spokesperson Details ‘Month From Hell’ Inside the Agency,” on Sunday which alleged that Hegseth’s leadership is causing a “full-blown meltdown” at the Pentagon and suggested that President Donald Trump will replace the secretary. During the “Fox & Friends” interview, Hegseth said it is “unfortunate” that Ullyot has “misrepresented” what is going on at the Pentagon in the press for political reasons.
“Anybody that knows John knows why we let him go,” Hegseth said. “We did a lot of favors for John. He did some good work upfront, then he was moved along and asked to move along. Now, he’s misrepresented a lot of things in the press. It’s unfortunate. We did right by him and tried to help. He’s spinning it otherwise. It’s too bad. It’s politics, I guess.”
Ullyot criticized the exits of senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense Colin Carroll, who are said to have been placed on administrative leave for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation that took place in early April. He claimed that Hegseth’s team spread “flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods” about these senior officials as they were put on leave from the Pentagon.
Hegseth disputed reports that Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, is set to leave the agency following a string of dismissals of other top staffers, stating that he will remain at the agency with a “slightly different role.”
The former chief spokesperson said in his op-ed that was not part of this purge but had voluntarily stepped down from his role when Hegseth offered him a new position.
Ullyot further mentioned the leak of a Signal chat which contained details regarding an attack on the Houthis in Yemen to The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth also reportedly brought his wife to “two meetings with foreign military counterparts … where sensitive information was discussed” and shared more information about a Yemen strike in another Signal chat that included his wife and brother, according to The New York Times.
The Department of Defense Inspector General launched an investigation into the first leak on April 3 at the request of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” Monday that Hegseth is doing a “phenomenal job” leading the Pentagon. Trump said during the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday that Hegseth is “doing a great job” at the Pentagon and that “disgruntled employees” are spreading false information about his job performance.
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