Pete Hegseth Scandals During Trump's Second Term That Took His Reputation From Bad To Worse

Even before he became the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth was a lightning rod for scandal. A veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hegseth joined Fox News in 2014, first as a contributor before becoming one of the hosts on "Fox & Friends Weekend." Hegseth's career at the conservative news outlet was haunted by controversy, but Donald Trump took a liking to him, and, after winning the 2024 election, nominated Hegseth to be his secretary of defense. Some of these less-than-flattering stories, including the things his mother said about him, came up before his confirmation hearing, but the former National Guard member made it through by the skin of his teeth, getting just 50 votes.

While Hegseth promised during his confirmation, among other things, to continue to not drink as secretary of defense, he never said he would stop being a controversial figure in politics. Since he joined the administration, Hegseth has been one of the loudest — and angriest — supporters of Trump's agenda. His meetings and briefings, specially since the beginning of the Iran War, are filled with religious imagery and celebrations of violence, but he still has time to fit in a little fun and dress up as the Easter Bunny. And when he isn't talking about how he will "negotiate with bombs" (per Time) or dressing up as beloved mythical figures, Hegseth continues to add to his many scandals, causing more and more damage to his already questionable reputation.

In March of 2025, the U.S. military conducted a bombing campaign in Yemen. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, knew about it before anyone else because Pete Hegseth unknowingly texted the plans to him using the Signal app. The group chat, created by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, was meant to include high-level members of the government, including Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and JD Vance, but Goldberg was accidentally added, giving him access to conversations the press was never supposed to find out about. Along with learning about the plans to bomb Yemen, Goldberg was able to see how the senior Trump administration officials really felt about other nations, with Vance reportedly complaining, "I just hate bailing Europe out again," and Hegseth agreeing with the vice president, stating, "I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC."

That April, the New York Times reported that Hegseth had previously shared sensitive information about Yemen in a second Signal chat that included his wife, his lawyer, and other people who should not have been privy to military plans. While the chat revealed by Goldberg was not created by Hegseth, this one was, so there was no one else for the secretary of defense to lay the blame on. It was also revealed that instead of using his government-issued phone, Hegseth sent these communications via a less secure private phone. While the administration claimed that these texts didn't share anything classified, the Washington Post learned that the information in the chats reportedly came from an email marked "SECRET/NOFORN." By May, Waltz, who added Goldberg to the first chat, was removed from his position. While it apparently added to Hegseth's paranoia, he did not face any apparent punishment for his secondary Signal chat. 

Donald Trump kicked off September 2025 by unofficially renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, which was an odd move by a man who really wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but Pete Hegseth was all for it. At the end of the month, Hegseth ordered hundreds of military personnel to gather at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Admirals and generals stationed around the globe quickly returned to the U.S. to attend a meeting without knowing what it would be about, but by the end of the event, the purpose of the meeting was clear.

During Hegseth's speech (via CBS News), he spoke on "the warrior ethos" and argued that the military had "[become] the woke department," before promising to put an end to that, saying, "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions." He also raged against "beardos" and "fat generals" and said, "I don't want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat unit with females who can't meet the same combat arms physical standards as men." 

Reactions to the speech were almost universally negative. Speaking to The Guardian, veteran and policy director for Common Defense Naveed Shah stated, "The people in that room who have served for 20, 30-plus years in uniform do not need Pete Hegseth to tell them about warrior ethos." Shah also pointed out the danger of bringing together all of America's top generals and admirals into one space, saying, "A bad cold could have threatened our entire chain of command." One unnamed former defense official gave their blunt opinion to DefenseScoop, saying "It was abhorrent. It was an abomination."

Pete Hegseth's speech to the gathered admirals and generals in September 2025 reverberated in March 2026 when the New York Times reported that the secretary of defense blocked the promotions of two female officers and two Black officers. Per the report, Hegseth had been trying to get Army brass to remove the names from a list of officers up for promotion for some time, but Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll refused to do so, believing that, after years of service, the officers had earned the right to be made one-star generals. 

It was also revealed that Hegseth's chief of staff, Ricky Buria, was reportedly angered when Driscoll selected Major General Antoinette R. Gant, a Black woman, to be the Commanding General of the Joint Task Force–National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington. Buria denied the accusation, telling the Times, "Whoever placed this made up story is clearly trying to sow division among our ranks in the department and the administration."

Shortly after the Times story broke, Hegseth asked for the resignations of Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, General David Hodne, and Major General William Green. The firing of Major General Green, the Army's chief of chaplains, was especially shocking, as no one in that position had ever been let go by the secretary of defense before. Over a dozen high-ranking officers have been dismissed by Hegseth during his tenure as defense secretary. According to an unnamed official who spoke to the New York Post, "This is all driven by the insecurity and paranoia that Pete has developed since Signalgate. Unfortunately, it is stoked by some of his closest aides who should be trying to calm the waters."

Pete Hegseth may believe that Carly Simon's hit song "You're So Vain" is about him. The former TV personality is supposedly obsessed with how he comes across on camera. Just months into his tenure as secretary of defense in April 2025, CBS reported that Hegseth had a makeup studio built in the Pentagon so he could always get a touchup before going in front of cameras. Then rumors spread that Hegseth was getting Botox to smooth out his wrinkles.

But the biggest sign that, as one insider said to the Daily Mail, " ... his sense of self-importance has gone to his head — along with his vanity," was when photographers were banished from the Pentagon press briefing room for two pressers after photos of Hegseth that apparently made him look bad appeared online. According to the Washington Post, the problem started when Hegseth began his updates on the war with Iran. With the cameras constantly capturing Hegseth at the podium, more than a few shots were guaranteed to end up showing him in an awkward light, and those very photos were picked up and used in articles across the internet. Upset with the way he was being portrayed, Hegseth's team didn't allow photographers to sit in on the briefings on March 4 and 10. Unfortunately for him, there are a number of photos Hegseth probably does not want you to see.

The United States and Israel began joint strikes against Iran on February 28, 2026. Since the war began, Pete Hegseth has gone before the press to take pride in the destruction. On March 10, per the U.S. Department of War, he stood before reporters and stated, " ... we are winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives." By the end of the month, Hegseth was telling stories about servicemembers asking for "more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs" (via U.S. Department of War). Reports later came out claiming that the secretary of defense attempted to profit off the destruction.

According to the Financial Times, per Forbes, Hegseth's broker contacted the asset management group BlackRock and inquired about putting millions into the Defense Industrials Active ETF, which invests in companies that have defense contracts with the United States government. The investment didn't go through, but the attempt itself has placed Hegseth in a bad position, with Democrats demanding answers. While Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, denied the story on X, Representatives Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam, members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter calling on Hegseth and his team to "immediately preserve all documents, communications, and other materials related to your financial investments and contacts with your financial institution since November 1, 2024." Garcia and Subramanyam also included personal commentary, stating, "Attempting to profit from a war you helped engineer using insider information is shocking and outrageous even by the standards of the Trump Administration."