Pete Hegseth slammed as former spokesman speaks of ‘total chaos’ and ‘backstabbing’ at Pentagon

As if the ‘Signalgate’ scandal – in which a journalist from The Atlantic was added to a group chat discussing upcoming strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen - wasn’t bad enough, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth is facing even more scrutiny now after his former spokesman has penned a piece for Politico talking about “total chaos at the Pentagon”.

John Ullyot resigned from the Department of Defense last week. He was a senior communications adviser to Donald Trump when he launched his 2016 presidential campaign, and held senior positions at the National Security Council and Department of Veterans Affairs during the Republican’s first term.

From the very beginning of the piece, published on Sunday, Ullyot doesn’t hold back, saying a “month of total chaos” at the department has ranged from “leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings” and that Trump “deserves better from his senior leadership”.

He also says that it is “hard to see” Hegseth remaining as defense secretary “for much longer”.

Yikes.

He continues: “Even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: the last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon – and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.”

Ullyot then lists a number of different crises, starting with the aforementioned blunder involving Signal.

“Once the Signalgate story broke, Hegseth followed horrible crisis-communications advice from his new public affairs team, who somehow convinced him to try to debunk the reporting through a vague, Clinton-esque non-denial denial that ‘nobody was texting war plans.’

“This was a violation of PR rule number one — get the bad news out right away,” he writes.

Other issues detailed by Ullyot include Hegseth reportedly bringing his wife “to two meetings with foreign military counterparts where sensitive information was discussed” (as reported by The Wall Street Journal); a top secret briefing for Elon Musk on China, set up by the Pentagon (reported by The New York Times); and another report of a Signal scandal, this time involving Hegseth’s wife and brother (The New York Timesagain).

The ex-official adds: “Unfortunately, after a terrible month, the Pentagon focus is no longer on war-fighting, but on endless drama.”

Ullyot’s damning intervention has since shocked Trump critics, leading one to declare that the Republican’s administration is “collapsing”:

“Hire a clown, expect a circus,” commented another:

A third joked Hegseth’s management wouldn’t be tolerated at KFC:

And Democratic senators have called on Hegseth to quit, including Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin, Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, and the party’s Senate leader Chuck Schumer:

Hegseth has not yet responded to Ulloyt's criticism.

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