Defense Secretary Pete Hegses has found himself again firing this time from political skeptics and enemies across the political spectrum. But as the incident was during the recent presidential transition period, when Trump opponents revive the 2018 Brett M. Kavanaugh/Christine Blasey Ford Playbook, the stakes are far higher than the safety of Hegseth’s job that leads the pentagon.
When he stood up for the nomination, many Democrats and the media all in to try and destroy Hegses. Like the September 2018 anti-Kavanaugh campaign in which Supreme Court candidates refused (and were denied) the claim, the recent anti-Hegues campaign denounced two bronze star-adored veterans and blamed them for ruining the Clinton-esque libido. But that was the coordinated effort to sink Hegses’ nomination. It was an attempt to overtake the water, show Trump’s vulnerability, and thwart the administration that came in before he took office. Thankfully. And perhaps Hegseth’s most important day 1 priority is military recruitment to be extremely large.
A little early. Hegses, one of the main Trump administration officials caught up in last month’s mating, has inexplicably brought sensitive military information to Atlantic Chief Jeffrey Goldberg about a US plan of attack on Yemen-based Hooty terrorists. The contents of the leaked chat revealed the Trump administration, which is internally divided into foreign policy issues, particularly in relation to Iran and its regional proxies. Iranian pigeons and anti-Israel provocates gently seized the opportunity to try and remove a handy “Hawkish” scalp, whether it was Hegses or national security adviser Michael Waltz. But both Hegseth and Waltz continued their work.
Since SignalGate, there have been two developments related to Hegseth. Last Sunday, Hegseth shared confidential information about the Houthi attack plan in a second group chat, including his wife, siblings and others. Hegseth acknowledged the existence of this second chat, but claimed it was harmless. , three senior officials from the Department of Defense — Deputy Chief of Staff Darrin Selnick, longtime Hegus Friend, best friend Dan Caldwell, and deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Carroll — were first placed on leave and were subsequently fired during a continuous Pentagon leak investigation.
Caldwell’s cashier is worth noting for his relationship with Heggs. The fire suggests that Hegses will leave the stones not to be overturned, and that he is willing to go to a burnt earth on his former allies, if necessary, to regain operational control of the Pentagon, surrounded by his leaks. But the reaction to the shooting, and the immediate actions of Caldwell afterwards, speaks very much. In short, what the aftermath of the Pentagon fire revealed is the same as the original leaked signal chat last month. The Trump administration is deeply divided into foreign policy issues, particularly related to Iran.
Caldwell, who has worked in various isolationist costumes, is an Iranian pigeon. On the early days of the Biden administration, Caldwell was Biden’s enforceable choice of envoy to Iran and previously the US chief negotiator for President Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Shortly after being fired from the Pentagon, Caldwell soon found himself in the country’s most famous Iranian Dove popular show Tucker Carlson (just American man from America), telling his side of the story. Caldwell’s story was a pure victim. He claimed his pentagonal tenure and dismissed the leak. His old ally Hegses fired him, and now Caldwell’s story doesn’t pass the test of laughter.
But the entire story is illuminated.
We need to wonder why many of President Trump’s allies use reports from the New York Times to try and throw Heggs under the bus at a vulnerable moment. Shouldn’t the “allies” be defended Hegus in the lead of Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump himself? Curt Mills of The American Conservative magazine: “Reality works – Hegseth is not what it was before.”
In other words, the Hegseth Smear campaign continues, but now it’s taking a different shade. All targets this time are the Iranian Hawks.
The background to all this high-drama is yet another twist to this elaborate puzzle, with ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations in a regime led by Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkov. These negotiations will resume in Oman this weekend. Witkov is a billionaire real estate investor with no particular knowledge of the Middle East. In 2023, Witkoff sold the Park Lane Hotel in New York City to the Qatar Investment Bureau for $623 million, perhaps not by chance, but in January 2025 he appeared on TV and praised Qatar as “” . In an interview with Carlson, Caldwell called Witkov a “blessing of heaven,” and Carlson praised him as a “instrument of peace.” In particular, Carlson recently praised her for trying to stop military action against Qatar’s ally and trading partner, Iran.
We start to see what’s going on here.
The good news is that Trump himself has a clear eye on issues related to Iran. That seems to be his Secretary of Defense. Therefore, the detractors of Hegses must conclude that he is expressing his frustration that the President is not as plagued by Iran as he does. It would explain why certain allies, allegedly regimes, are trying to destroy Pete Hegses again.
Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Destiny of the Jewish State and the Destiny of the West”. ” This article was created in collaboration with Creator Syndicate.
