John Ullyot, a former Pentagon spokesperson under Hegseth and a White House official during Trump’s first term, wrote that “the last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration”, in a stinging op-ed in Politico this week.

A defiant Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth booked himself on the television network where he used to work as a host Tuesday morning in a bid to address the fallout over revelations that he discussed military plans in a second Signal group chat,