'Total FAKE NEWS': White House Rejects Report Claiming Trump Plans To Replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The White House has strongly denied a news report suggesting that President Donald Trump is seeking to replace Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid growing controversy over alleged leaks of sensitive military information.

The White House has started the process of identifying a new Defense Secretary, NPR reported on Monday, citing an anonymous US official as saying.

“This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.“As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef.”

The White House's official rapid response account echoed the sentiment, calling NPR a“Fake News propaganda machine.”

Trump reaffirms support

President Donald Trump stood by Hegseth amid the controversy, dismissing the story as part of a media smear campaign.

“It's just fake news. They just bring up stories,” President Donald Trump told reporters. "I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that's what he's doing. So you don't always have friends when you do that,” Trump said.

Leaked chat details airstrike information

The backlash follows a New York Times report that Hegseth disclosed details of a March US military airstrike against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen via a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother.

The report also connects the latest incident to an earlier controversy , when Jeffrey Goldberg , editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was accidentally added to a separate Signal group -“Houthi PC small group” - that included senior Trump officials. That group was also reportedly used to discuss attack plans.

Hegseth denies wrongdoing

Hegseth has denied leaking any classified material and maintains the allegations are politically motivated.

“Leakers get fired and hit pieces come out. This is what they do,” he told reporters at the White House on April 21.“They take anonymous sources from former employees and try to ruin people's reputations... not gonna work with me.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hegseth hit back at critics:“Your agenda is illegals, trans & DEI - all of which are no longer allowed @ DoD.”

Officials insist no classified info was shared

Despite the uproar, senior Trump officials insist that no classified material was ever disclosed.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who created the Signal group where Goldberg was mistakenly added, reportedly took“full responsibility” for the error . Vice President JD Vance, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, and other top officials were also members of the chat.

Pentagon leak fallout leads to firings

Four Pentagon officials - Dan Caldwell , Josh Selnick, Colin Carroll, and one unnamed aide - were dismissed in the wake of an internal leak investigation. A March 21 memo signed by Hegseth's chief of staff, Joe Kasper, called for a probe into“unauthorized disclosures of national security information.”

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for Hegseth's removal, claiming the defense secretary“put lives at risk.”

In a post on X, Schumer wrote :“The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”

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