‘Disgruntled employees’: Trump defends Hegseth as Signal Leak reports rock Pentagon

President Donald Trump came to the defense of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, dismissing fresh reports that Hegseth shared sensitive military information in a private Signal messaging chat with his wife, brother, and others.

“I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing. So you don’t always have friends when you do that.”

The White House echoed Trump’s remarks, backing Hegseth and turning attention away from the national security implications of the alleged leak. Officials instead framed the controversy as a bureaucratic battle between Hegseth and a resistant Pentagon workforce.

“This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Her remarks were also reposted by an official Pentagon social media account.

New Chat, Familiar Content

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth had shared sensitive military details in a Signal chat titled “Defense Team Huddle,” involving 13 people including his wife and brother. The revelations echo an earlier disclosure about a separate Signal chain involving Trump administration officials.

A person familiar with the chat’s contents and recipients, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed the second chat to the Associated Press. The White House reportedly first learned of the second Signal group through news reports.

Hegseth, appearing at the White House Easter Egg Roll, refused to address the substance of the allegations. Instead, he went on the offensive against the press.

“They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth said. “Not going to work with me. Because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters.”

(With inputs from Associated Press)

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