Latest news with #USDefenseSec
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pete Hegseth doing "tremendous job": Why is Trump not firing US defense secretary despite massive controversy?
Pressure has been mounting on US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following reports of a second Signal chatroom used to discuss sensitive military operations. The war veteran and former Fox News host is under fire again since he was linked to two group chats about sensitive military operations and calls are growing louder to kill him. President Donald Trump has come out in defence of Pete Hegseth and said "Pete's doing a great a job and everyone is happy with him." 'He's doing a great job. Ask the Houthis how he's doing,' Trump said dismissively, referring to the rebel group in Yemen targeted by those missile strikes, on the sidelines of the White House Easter egg roll event on Monday. ALSO READ: 'Try finding something new': Trump backs Pete Hegseth as US Defense Sec blames 'media' for Signal chat leak row Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Shooter Action MMO Crossout Play Now Undo White House defends Pete Hegseth White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is doing 'a tremendous job' and 'is bringing a monumental change to the Pentagon,' which she said had prompted a 'smear campaign' against him. Leavitt was asked by a reporter to square her comments that some of the recently departed officials from the Pentagon were disgruntled and working against Hegseth with the fact that they were part of his inner circle. Live Events 'They were Pentagon employees who leaked against their boss,' Leavitt said. The dismissed employees have said their character is being slandered. ALSO READ: Trump planning to replace Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief amid Signal chat leak scandal? White House says... Signalchat leak controversy The New York Times reported that Pete Hegseth had shared information about US strikes in Yemen last month in a second Signal group chat that included family, his personal lawyer and several top Pentagon aides. The controversy comes a month after a journalist was added to a Signal group chat in which US cabinet officials, including Hegseth, discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hegseth was revealed to have shared, in a series of messages, plans about US strikes against the Houthis on 15 March before they happened in the Signal group chat that included his wife, his brother and a number of his top military aides. The details that Hegseth sent in were essentially the same information that he shared in a separate Signal group chat earlier this year that mistakenly included the editor of the Atlantic in addition to JD Vance and other top Trump officials, a person directly familiar with the messages said. Hegseth has been facing pressure from people outside of the White House. According to a report in The Guardian, Trump had dialled Pete Hegseth on Sunday after the story broke and aides concluded that it had been leaked to the news media by a former Hegseth aide who was in the group chat but abruptly fired last week. ALSO READ: Pentagon's chaotic week: US Army commander suspended after astonishing insult to Trump, Vance and Hegseth During his second term, Trump has avoided firing top officials, aiming not to appear as though he's bowing to media pressure, despite his frustration with negative coverage. He also continued to support his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who had included The Atlantic's editor in the initial group chat. According to someone familiar with the matter, Trump assured Pete Hegseth of his backing, blaming discontented leakers for the story, which was first reported by The New York Times. Trump also instructed his team to publicly support Hegseth. Senior aides echoed the administration's stance that no classified information was shared in either group chat—though questions remain about why Hegseth's wife, who holds no Pentagon role, was included in the conversation. What Pete Hegseth said? The defense secretary himself appeared furious when asked about the second Signal chat during the White House Easter egg roll event on the South Lawn, telling reporters that the story was a 'hit piece' that repeated his defense that it had been pushed by 'disgruntled former employees'. ALSO READ: Who is Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez, US Army Commander suspended after photo controversy? But Hegseth faced growing pressure to resign after John Ullyot, his former spokesperson, wrote in an extraordinary opinion essay in Politico on Sunday that the Pentagon was 'in disarray under Hegseth's leadership'. Republican congressman Don Bacon, who sits on the House armed services committee, did not explicitly call for Hegseth's resignation but suggested he would not keep Hegseth in place were he was the president. 'I had concerns from the get-go because Pete Hegseth didn't have a lot of experience,' said Bacon, a former air force general. 'I'm not in the White House and I'm not going to tell the White House how to manage this … but I find it unacceptable and I wouldn't tolerate it if I was in charge.'
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Got a better bunny': Trump's dig at Joe Biden during Easter Egg Roll goes viral. Watch video
Thousands of children and their parents celebrated the traditional Easter Egg Roll in the White House garden on Monday. US President Donald Trump, who appeared alongside a large Easter Bunny, had posted that 40,000 guests were expected for the big Easter egg hunt. Trump had first lady Melania Trump and his supporters laughing by mocking former President Joe Biden's interaction with the Easter bunny. The president recalled a viral moment from the 2022 Easter Egg Roll, in which a White House aide, dressed as the lady Easter Bunny, shooed the aging president away from reporters who were quizzing him about foreign policy. ALSO READ: 'Try finding something new': Trump backs Pete Hegseth as US Defense Sec blames 'media' for Signal chat leak row 5 5 Next Stay Playback speed 1x Normal Back 0.25x 0.5x 1x Normal 1.5x 2x 5 5 / Skip Ads by by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Longest Celebrity Marriages – And Why They Lasted? Undo Trump mocks Biden again During Monday's Egg Roll, the president chatted up guests on the South Lawn, the first lady at his side. He did not miss the opportunity to mock the former President. "Do you remember the bunny with Joe Biden?' Trump asked. 'Remember? Do you remember when the bunny took Joe Biden out? He's not taking Trump out. That was a beautiful moment, when the bunny saved Joe Biden," Trump said, evoking laughter. Live Events He repeated the comment moments later. 'You remember when the bunny saved Joe Biden?' he asked Egg Roll attendees. 'The bunny's not going to save me, right? I got a better bunny.' The bunny's not going to save me, right? I got a better bunny.' ALSO READ: 'Very perilous time in America...': 'Shame' chants echo across US as thousands protest Trump, over 700 events held The White House's social media accounts posted Trump making the joke - and the footage of Biden. 'BREAKING: The White House is no longer a nursing home,' the post said. The Easter Egg Roll was cancelled by Trump in 2020 and nixed by Biden in 2021, due to the pandemic. — WhiteHouse (@WhiteHouse) Netizens quickly reacted to the video in the comment section with one of them commenting, "Of course we remember that! " (sic) "Yes I remember Bunny took corrupt Joe Biden out," wrote another. "Gosh he is cracking me up!! He means it !!," another user commented. During Monday's Egg Roll, Trump engaged with reporters as he walked around the South Lawn with the first lady, Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend Bettina Anderson and several of his children, including golf star Kai. ALSO READ: How Pete Hegseth invited multiple controversies for himself in less than a month? 10 points The bunny didn't keep the president away from the press. He commented on the death of Pope Francis. Asked if he'd like to go to the Pope's funeral, Trump responded: 'I don't know, I just have to look at the timing. We just lowered the flags throughout the country.' Later Monday, Trump announced via Truth Social that he and Melania would fly to Rome for the occasion. A reporter pointed out to the president that Pope Francis had preached tolerance for migrants and was asked if he agreed. 'Yeah, I do, I do,' Trump answered.
