White House says all of Pentagon is against secretary of defense

(MENAFN) The White House has alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing widespread resistance from within the Pentagon, with staff actively working against him, according to spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

Speaking on Fox and Friends Monday, Leavitt declared President Donald Trump’s full support for Hegseth, asserting that entrenched Pentagon officials are resisting the sweeping changes he is trying to implement. She claimed that critics of Hegseth, frustrated by his dedication to defending military personnel, are retaliating by leaking information and spreading misinformation to the media.

The administration’s defense of Hegseth follows a New York Times report accusing him of sharing classified information about U.S. operations in Yemen with his wife and brother, who reportedly lacked security clearances.

The article is loosely tied to the “Signalgate” controversy, which surfaced in March when The Atlantic revealed that a private Signal messaging group, involving top Trump officials, discussed strikes on Yemen's Houthi forces. The leak reportedly occurred after National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly sent an invitation to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg.

The Times further claimed that Hegseth operated another private Signal group including close associates and his wife. Hegseth’s spokesperson, Sean Parnell, accused the newspaper of trying to resurrect a story that had already faded from public interest.

Meanwhile, three Pentagon officials suspended during the leak investigation—Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll—issued a joint statement last week condemning what they described as baseless accusations and character attacks during their exit.

Adding to the controversy, former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot criticized Hegseth in a Politico op-ed, calling his recent dismissals of key staffers—including longtime advisers Caldwell and Selnick—a “strange and baffling purge” that could leave him isolated during a critical time.

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