On Monday, the liberal outlet National Public Radio reported that Donald Trump’s administration was looking for a replacement for Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. This report may in fact have helped shield Hegseth from being sacked for having arranged a second Signal chat group about impending war plans for Yemen that apparently included his wife, Jennifer, his brother, Phil and personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore. The White House has embarked upon a full-scale offensive to defend Hegseth as a victim of a nefarious deep-state plot intent on undermining the President and his aides.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was first off the mark. She depicted Hegseth as a figure of valour. ‘This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and the monumental change you are trying to implement,’ Leavitt said. ‘Unfortunately, there have been people at that building who don’t like the change the Secretary is bringing, and they are leaking and lying to mainstream media, we have seen this game played before.’
Hegseth functions as Trump’s pliant tool
Hegseth had recently fired three top aides, including Dan Caldwell, a former Marine who served in Iraq.
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