Existence of group chat including Hegseth, his wife and others prompt calls for defense secretary to step down

A former top Pentagon spokesperson has slammed Pete Hegseth’s leadership of the department of defense, as pressure mounts on the US’s top military official following reports of a second Signal chatroom used to discuss sensitive military operations.

John Ullyot, who resigned last week after initially serving as Pentagon spokesperson, said in a opinion essay published by Politico on Sunday that the Pentagon has been overwhelmed by staff drama and turnover in the initial months of the second Trump administration.

Ullyot called the situation a “full-blown meltdown” that could cost Hegseth, a 44-year-old former Fox News host and National Guard officer, his job as defense secretary.

  • finder@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Donald Trump Jr pushed back on the opinion piece, saying the author is “officially exiled” from Trump’s political movement. “This guy is not America First,” Trump Jr wrote on X. “I’ve been hearing for years that he works his ass off to subvert my father’s agenda. That ends today.”

    The fuck?

    • ToastedPlanet@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      14 hours ago

      The MAGA movement is a cult. Don Jr, the eldest son of the cult leader, is telling the other cultists this author is excommunicated from the cult. Thus the cultists know to ignore anything relating to this topic and can continue their blind devotion in peace.

  • dabailli@feddit.uk
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    17 hours ago

    I’m actually a little surprised that the fact he was an atrocious appointment took to as long to be proven!

    It’s also crazy to me that we’re still in the “could cost him his job” era

  • Gerudo@lemm.ee
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    17 hours ago

    Susan Collins told me he learned from his first mistake though. I’m starting to think he didn’t.

    • Wilco@lemm.ee
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      17 hours ago

      Pretty much everyone that doesnt have Trumps balls in his mouth called that one.

      The same goes for the antivax weirdo with a brain worm and pretty much all the MAGA picks.

  • BetaBlake@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Others do and HAVE been court martialed for less. Like no hyperbole, you are fucked if you are anyone else.

    • Dlayknee@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      That’s what I can’t get over. I mean sure, we know double standards are rife in this administration but OMG how is the entire security community and leadership (looking at you, Congress) not absolutely losing their minds at this? Didn’t they send a SWAT team or something after one of the War Thunder forum leakers for posting a simple manual?! This is just insane.

    • Today@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      There’s a joke here about his wife and his brother getting sucked in, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

  • ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.com
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    20 hours ago

    Let’s tack Donnie into that call for losing their job for not doing a damn thing to prevent this after the first time around. Incompetent management, why do we not have a no-confidence vote mechanism?

  • cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.de
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    21 hours ago

    What I don’t get about this is the reason. You’d think maybe more insider trading, but why would you need such specific information for that? A simple "attack on Yemen at…“ would be enough. In the first chat at least the people were tangentially concerned with the content, but his wife and lawyer? And ten more associates? For what, bragging rights? He must have known on some level that this is quite sensitive information and should not be shared with just about anyone. The sheer stupidity of all this is incomprehensible to me, it truly boggles the mind.

    And one more thing: all of this has had no real consequences for the troops yet, but these kinds of failures will lead to catastrophic outcomes eventually. The Pentagon is now a clown-show and it is dealing with live-and-death decisions constantly. What a crazy time.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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      20 hours ago

      What I don’t get about this is the reason.

      The man is, as predicted, staggeringly incompetent. He’s just that bad at his job.

      • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        That’s legitimately his only qualification for the job. That and being a brown nosing Yes Man.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    What a weird fucking opinion piece (the linked Politico story, not the OP)

    Last week, a month after leaving my public affairs role, I respectfully declined the secretary’s generous offer for a new position and informed him of my decision to leave the department, wishing him all the best. I value his friendship and am grateful for his giving me the opportunity to serve. I salute his leadership in helping the president make America strong again.

    Yet 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.

    “I love the guy like a brother, but what a complete fuck-up” sandwiched in with so much trump butt-licking it’s beyond gross.