Defense Department And White House Fire Back After Latest Hegseth Hit Piece

The Defense Department and the White House, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth himself, fired back over an anonymously-sourced New York Times piece claiming that Hegseth had shared “highly sensitive military information” in a second Signal chat group that allegedly included his wife, his brother, and his attorney.

The story comes on the heels of a previous incident in which The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a different Signal chat group — and an attack on Houthi terrorists was described in some detail before Goldberg went public with both his presence in the group and the contents of the conversation. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz ultimately took responsibility for Goldberg’s accidental inclusion, which may have been linked to his iPhone’s algorithm that populates “automated contact suggestions.”

The second chat group, according to the NYT, was nicknamed “Defense | Team Huddle” and was accessed via Hegseth’s personal phone rather than his government phone. Citing several anonymous sources, the NYT stated that the private Signal chat had included at least two of three DOD officials who were recently relieved of duty amid an investigation into “unauthorized disclosures” to media. The article offered no evidence suggesting that Hegseth had ever discussed anything of a sensitive nature in that group.

On Sunday, Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell released a statement responding to the story:

Another day, another old story—back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage — are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President’s agenda. There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story. What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in executing President Trump’s agenda. We’ve already achieved so much for the American warfighter, and will never back down.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
4/20/25

STATEMENT:

Another day, another old story—back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their…

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) April 21, 2025

Hegseth, who was present at Monday’s Easter Egg Roll at the White House, responded directly to the story as well:

What a big surprise that a bunch of leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax.

This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me.

We’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters — and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.

Pete Hegseth shuts down the fake news media:

"What a big surprise that a bunch of leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax."

"This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former… pic.twitter.com/H4AmR88BJR

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 21, 2025

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended Hegseth during a Monday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends,” telling anchor Brian Kilmeade that the president was standing behind Hegseth, “who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon.”

.@PressSec: "The President stands strongly behind @SecDef @PeteHegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon." pic.twitter.com/8exZQSJr5a

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025

National Public Radio (NPR) followed up the NYT report with an anonymously-sourced story claiming that the White House was already looking for a replacement for Hegseth — a claim that Leavitt immediately disputed.

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

This ⁦@NPR⁩ story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.

As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind ⁦@SecDef⁩. https://t.co/5Npig8968v

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 21, 2025