WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Tuesday of possible prosecutions of former senior advisers who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed.
Dan Caldwell, who was one of Hegseth’s top advisers, and two other senior officials were fired on Friday after being escorted out of the Pentagon. But they have denied any wrongdoing and said they have been told nothing about any alleged crimes.
Hegseth, who has come under fire for using unclassified messaging system Signal to discuss plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi group, left open the possibility that individuals could be exonerated during the investigation but played down those chances.
“If those people are exonerated, fantastic. We don’t think — based on what we understand — that it’s going to be a good day for a number of those individuals because of what was found in the investigation,” Hegseth told Fox News.
Hegseth said there had been a number of leaks that triggered the investigation, including about military options to ensure US access to the Panama Canal and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon.
“We said enough is enough. We’re going to launch a leak investigation,” Hegseth said.
“We took it seriously. It led to some unfortunate places, people I have known for quite some time. But it’s not my job to protect them. It’s my job to protect national security.”
He said evidence would eventually be handed over to the Department of Justice.
“When that evidence is gathered sufficiently — and this has all happened very quickly — it will be handed over to the DOJ and those people will be prosecuted if necessary,” Hegseth said.
Caldwell had played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth and his importance was underscored in a leaked text chain on Signal disclosed by The Atlantic last month.
In it, Hegseth named Caldwell as the best staff point of contact for the National Security Council as it prepared for the launch of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
On Sunday, news emerged of a second Signal chat, a disclosure that Hegseth and other officials have blamed on former Pentagon employees.
Despite growing calls from Democrats for Hegseth to resign, President Donald Trump has stood firmly by his defense secretary.
John Ullyot, who was ousted from his job as a Pentagon spokesperson after two months, said on Sunday that Hegseth’s Defense Department was in “total chaos.”
“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote in an opinion piece in Politico.
Asked about Ullyot’s remarks, Hegseth said: “He’s misrepresented a lot of things in the press. It’s unfortunate.”
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Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions
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Pentagon says leak probe may lead to US prosecutions
- Hegseth left open the possibility that individuals could be exonerated
- “We said enough is enough. We’re going to launch a leak investigation,” he said
New Trump strategy vows shift from global role to regional
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said in a long-awaited new strategy document Friday that the United States will shift from its historic global role toward increasing dominance in Latin America and vigorously fighting migration.
The national security paper, meant to flesh out Trump’s norms-shattering “America First” worldview, signals a sharp reorientation from longstanding US calls to refocus on Asia, although it still identifies China as a top competitor.
The strategy also brutally criticized allies in Europe and said that the United States will champion opponents to European Union-led values, including on immigration.
Breaking with decades of attempts to be the sole superpower, the strategy said that the “United States rejects the ill-fated concept of global domination for itself.”
It said that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
The strategy called for a “readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere, and away from theaters whose relative import to American national security has declined in recent decades or years.”
The strategy speaks in bold terms of pressing US dominance in Latin America, where the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug traffickers at sea, intervening to bring down leftist leaders including in Venezuela, and loudly seeking to take charge of key resources such as the Panama Canal.
The strategy cast Trump as modernizing the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine, in which the then young United States declared Latin America off-limits to rival powers, then from Europe.
“We will assert and enforce a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” it said.
- Championing Europe ‘resistance’ -
Trump has sharply reversed many longstanding US principles since returning to office in January.
He rose to political prominence demanding sweeping curbs on immigration to the United States, fanning fears that the white majority was losing its status, and since taking office has ordered drastic and high-profile raids to deport undocumented people.
“The era of mass migration must end. Border security is the primary element of national security,” the strategy said.
The strategy made clear that the United States under Trump would aggressively pursue similar objectives in Europe, in line with far-right parties that have made strong gains in much of the continent.
In extraordinary language in speaking of close allies, the strategy said: “Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
Germany quickly hit back, saying that it does not need “outside advice.”
The strategy pointed to Europe’s lower share of the global economy — which is the result largely of the rise of China and other emerging powers — and said: “This economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.
“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”
As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would likely favor Russia gaining territory, the strategy accused Europeans of weakness and said the United States should focus on “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.”
- Less on Middle East and Africa -
The strategy paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East, which has long consumed Washington.
Pointing to US efforts to increase energy supply at home and not in the oil-rich Gulf, the strategy said: “America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede.”
The paper said it was a US priority for Israel to be secure, but stopped short of the fulsome language on Israel used even in the first Trump administration.
On China, the strategy repeated calls for a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region but focused more on the nation as an economic competitor.
After much speculation on whether Trump would budge on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, the strategy made clear that the United States supports the decades-old status quo, but called on allies Japan and South Korea to contribute more to ensure Taiwan’s defense from China.
The strategy predictably puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from “liberal ideology” and an “aid-focused relationship” and emphasize goals such as securing critical minerals.
The national security paper, meant to flesh out Trump’s norms-shattering “America First” worldview, signals a sharp reorientation from longstanding US calls to refocus on Asia, although it still identifies China as a top competitor.
The strategy also brutally criticized allies in Europe and said that the United States will champion opponents to European Union-led values, including on immigration.
Breaking with decades of attempts to be the sole superpower, the strategy said that the “United States rejects the ill-fated concept of global domination for itself.”
It said that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
The strategy called for a “readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere, and away from theaters whose relative import to American national security has declined in recent decades or years.”
The strategy speaks in bold terms of pressing US dominance in Latin America, where the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug traffickers at sea, intervening to bring down leftist leaders including in Venezuela, and loudly seeking to take charge of key resources such as the Panama Canal.
The strategy cast Trump as modernizing the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine, in which the then young United States declared Latin America off-limits to rival powers, then from Europe.
“We will assert and enforce a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” it said.
- Championing Europe ‘resistance’ -
Trump has sharply reversed many longstanding US principles since returning to office in January.
He rose to political prominence demanding sweeping curbs on immigration to the United States, fanning fears that the white majority was losing its status, and since taking office has ordered drastic and high-profile raids to deport undocumented people.
“The era of mass migration must end. Border security is the primary element of national security,” the strategy said.
The strategy made clear that the United States under Trump would aggressively pursue similar objectives in Europe, in line with far-right parties that have made strong gains in much of the continent.
In extraordinary language in speaking of close allies, the strategy said: “Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
Germany quickly hit back, saying that it does not need “outside advice.”
The strategy pointed to Europe’s lower share of the global economy — which is the result largely of the rise of China and other emerging powers — and said: “This economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.
“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”
As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would likely favor Russia gaining territory, the strategy accused Europeans of weakness and said the United States should focus on “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.”
- Less on Middle East and Africa -
The strategy paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East, which has long consumed Washington.
Pointing to US efforts to increase energy supply at home and not in the oil-rich Gulf, the strategy said: “America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede.”
The paper said it was a US priority for Israel to be secure, but stopped short of the fulsome language on Israel used even in the first Trump administration.
On China, the strategy repeated calls for a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region but focused more on the nation as an economic competitor.
After much speculation on whether Trump would budge on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, the strategy made clear that the United States supports the decades-old status quo, but called on allies Japan and South Korea to contribute more to ensure Taiwan’s defense from China.
The strategy predictably puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from “liberal ideology” and an “aid-focused relationship” and emphasize goals such as securing critical minerals.
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