Insiders are ‘starting to express doubts’ about Pete Hegseth’s judgment

This week, the Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz had accidentally added him to a “war plan” groupchat on Signal. Goldberg stayed on the chat just long enough to see that it was actually real and that Pete Hegseth and JD Vance are complete idiots, along with everyone else in Trump’s administration. In the before times, this would have been a huge scandal which would ended several careers, notably the careers of Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth. Not so much – Donald Trump won’t fire them because A) he doesn’t care, B) he’s not paying attention, C) he doesn’t know how groupchats work and D) he’s a white supremacist who surrounds himself with other white supremacists and they follow their own bonkers logic. Which is how a drunk rapist in charge of the Defense budget announced a bombing on an unsecure groupchat and still has his job. That being said, there are some knives out for Hegseth.

The White House is publicly defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he texted sensitive military information in a Signal chat. But behind the scenes, administration insiders are starting to express doubts about the Pentagon chief’s judgment.

Officials agree national security adviser Mike Waltz, who accidentally invited a journalist to a group chat with senior leaders, could more easily take the fall for a scandal that has embarrassed the administration — which may end up sparing Hegseth his job.

But Republican hawks, Pentagon officials and even some inside the White House now believe Hegseth also messed up by sending likely classified details from his phone. And that has the potential to undermine his credibility in the administration.

Because Trump clearly likes and has publicly exonerated Hegseth, “you’re not going to hear a huge public outcry,” said a senior GOP official on Capitol Hill who is close to the White House. “But, privately, there is a lot of concern about his judgment, more than with Waltz.”

Even for a Pentagon chief who has copied Trump’s pugilistic style — down to his Sharpie signature and campaign-style videos — Hegseth’s growing pile of mistakes are getting noticed, according to four officials and two people in touch with the administration.

“The problem is this is another example of inexperience,” said a person close to the White House, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive issue. “What happens when Hegseth needs to manage a real crisis?”

[From Politico]

“What happens when Hegseth needs to manage a real crisis” – I like that they didn’t say “if” but “when.” Because Hegseth is absolutely going to get drunk and start a war and Trump will be like “sure, whatever” and the Signal groupchat will be like “hell yeah” and Bob Woodward will be like “I’m so glad I was accidentally added to this chat, this will go in a book I’m writing which will be published in five years.”

Meanwhile, a DHS employee accidentally sent classified ICE documents to a journalist and now that person has been put on administrative leave and she’s going to have her security clearance revoked. All while Waltz and Hegseth get to keep their jobs, huh?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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38 Responses to “Insiders are ‘starting to express doubts’ about Pete Hegseth’s judgment”

  1. Lizzie says:

    This is why the career government people are needed because of course a presidential appointee can be unqualified, uncaring and incompetent.

  2. GoodWitchGlenda says:

    *screams into the void*

    • Megan says:

      Why are Democrats squandering this opportunity? They should be out there screaming about Hegseth being a drunk and Waltz and Gabbard are in mental decline because they couldn’t recall a damn thing about this incident when testifying before Congress.

      • Blithe says:

        People are yelling about this — among other things. My representatives in Congress are doing quite a lot, even in other jurisdictions, for starters.

        One of those other things is putting Vance in charge of weeding out “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian museums— starting with a special focus on the relatively new National Museum of African American History and Culture. Since Vance has neither the education nor the inclination to learn about institutions before he breaks them, this is more than concerning on multiple levels.

        This is part of a deliberate plan — see Bannon’s comment and Project 2025 — to inundate us with multiple simultaneous crises, so that they can see what sticks and what slips under the radar. Admonishing “Democrats” for not doing enough to address Republican behavior is exactly what the Republicans want. If we’re squabbling and arguing about what the priorities should be amongst ourselves, then the Republicans have even more leeway to impact even more programs and institutions while we accuse each other of not doing “enough”.

        FWIW, part of Trump’s bigger plan includes destroying my home town — politically and economically — just for funsies. So, yet another thing to focus on while Trump’s DUI and DEI hires are destroying our country.

    • Jess99 says:

      Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m not coping well these days. I’m so tired.

    • Traveller says:

      Ya think!

  3. HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

    HAHAHAHA. Republicans in Congress knew all along that Hegseth was unqualified. Yet they supported his nominations anyway, out of fealty to their orange savior. They deserve everything they get for putting American service members lives in danger.

    • Eva says:

      Not just americans service members lives are on danger. They threaten every single person on this planet. Military or civilian.

      • Kitten says:

        How many civilians did they kill in that strike? From the messages, it’s clear they bombed an apartment building–how many more? One target and how many innocent people were collateral damage??
        We’ll never know because they’re using Signal as a back-channel for all their communications so that it won’t be part of the National Archives.

        At least Bibi is happy.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        Told that they had just vaporized an entire apartment building, our wonderful vice president replied, “Excellent!”. Weird no one is calling him Genocide JD.

      • Emcee3 says:

        There was an update Thur from WSJ. Israel is not happy -quoted as “upset” -because they provided intel for the target in Houthi attack described in the Signal chat. Even though the person was never named, s/he may have been on the ground for the verification.

      • Monc says:

        Remember 47 called them suckers… he does not care for soliders

  4. Now they are having doubts about an alcoholic Fox News host running the department of defense?? Now they’re having doubts!!! That should have been their first clue he wasn’t for this very important job. The second clue is a dumb reality tv star appointed him. We are fucked!!!!!!!

    • BeanieBean says:

      I still remember when trump named him & others as his prospective cabinet right after the election. A friend was over to help me after my hip surgery (which was the day after the election). So I’m semi-napping on the couch & she’s on the phone with her husband–both are MAGA & it breaks my heart–and she’s saying, ‘yeah, I don’t see any red flags’. Sh*t, Hegseth just parachuted in on a red flag. I wonder if she can see it now?

    • Disengaged says:

      As a public employee of many years in various capacities, even your average local govt personnel are WELL aware of how big an error this is from an open records perspective. The public should absolutely be able to see what we do (so long as it’s not certain sensitive info). I wonder if the pilots could file attempted murder charges tbh. Every military person I know is tossing and turning after hearing this – most civil servants are well versed in how info can be shared and how

  5. Lightpurple says:

    Generals are not going to repeatedly cover his ass for him.

    And we can’t let up. Flood their phones and email boxes and snail mail boxes.

  6. Kitten says:

    Heard this morning that 74% of Americans think the Signal scandal is a “somewhat serious problem” and 53% think it’s a “very serious problem”. On one hand I hate how this is somehow a more salient issue than the fact that we are rounding up and deporting legal citizens without due process but on the other hand, I’m just happy to see that a negative news story about Trump has dominated the headlines for more than 24 hours. Whatever gets traction I guess.

    And of course, everyone here knew exactly what kind of an unqualified–sorry, DISqualified–imbecile Hegseth would turn out to be but it’s amazing that he couldn’t even make it three months without causing a scandal of this magnitude. The good thing–and I know, it’s not much–is that this makes the administration look like the fucking idiots they are even as they squawk about “MeRiT!!!!” Trump and Musk have enjoyed running roughshod through our government, creating the appearance of a presidency that’s delivering on their promises at breakneck speed, but this incident just makes them look like the incompetent clowns they really are. Embarrassing AF for them.

  7. MsIam says:

    Now they are calling Hegseth “Whiskyleaks”, lol. Trump won’t fire him because that would be admitting Trump made a mistake which he will never do. But he could be forced to resign, kind of like how Matt Gates was forced to withdraw his name for Attorney General or whatever they were trying to put him up for. That way McTrump will save face. McTrump is already throwing Waltz under the bus outright.

  8. Big Dawn says:

    I have a feeling that we haven’t seen anything yet from this administration. It’s going to be a long four years.

  9. Brassy Rebel says:

    I love this Breaking News narrative that Hegseth is unqualified, as if no one knew that at the time of his confirmation. And that wasn’t all that was known about him. Everyone knew he was a drunken rapist and an abusive spouse. Everyone knew that his own mother couldn’t stand him. But, sure, now we’re going to act like we’re all surprised that he shouldn’t have an important job like Secretary of Defense.

    What is also troubling to me is the search for scapegoats. They all need to go and a criminal investigation needs to begin. But it’s absolutely turned into a discussion about who should take the fall. Disgusting. And Tulsi Gabbard lied to Congress. We’re supposed to memory hole that little nugget. Prosecute her lying, traitorous ass!

  10. Eleonor says:

    Bob Woodward in the chat group had me LOL and then 😱 😭

  11. Truthiness says:

    The entire Pentagon is under a DUI hire who acts like he’s playing Call of Duty.

    • MsIam says:

      That’s probably how he convinced Chump to pick him, his Call of Duty skills.

    • Becks1 says:

      honestly, if I was any type of military – active service, retired, or married to someone who was – I would be so insulted by the group chat. I mean i’m insulted as an American but there just seems to be something so incredibly disrespectful about using EMOJIS to describe a bombing mission. No American lives may have been lost but there is always a risk. and like you said, these guys are acting like its Call of Duty.

      No, these are people’s lives.

      and that’s without getting into the civilian lives lost, the badmouthing of Europe, etc.

  12. Mslove says:

    It’s only a matter of time before Hegseth has an affair with a staffer. They’ll probably find classified documents scattered about the love nest alongside the empty whisky bottles.

  13. Kiki says:

    Who will replace him. Let’s see..Jesse Waters another Fox news host?
    Mel Gibson? I mean he played Braveheart he is qualified. How about the animated shark from Jaws? He seems pretty tough. The possibilities are endless. Each of those are better qualified.

  14. BeanieBean says:

    I work for a DoD agency. It’s SO HARD to go in to work right now.

    • Kitten says:

      I’m so sorry 🙁

    • Traveller says:

      My condolences. I hate the unnecessary extra stress you have all been under.
      I want to thank you for your public service and the public service of all the federal employees.

      • AC says:

        I’m so sorry, hang in there. I know that it’s so horrible at this moment, but I’m a believer of things happen for a reason. And they’re digging and digging themselves more into a bigger hole, it will eventually catch up.

  15. Sid says:

    What? You mean the serial baby daddy, proud drunk, raging misogynist and all around bigot with not even the brains or common sense God gave a turkey wasn’t a good choice for such a critical position? I am shocked. Utterly shocked.

    This is also my regular reminder that all the Celebitches better have a backup plan in order.

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