Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is again under fire for sharing sensitive intelligence about impending military operations in Yemen on the messaging app Signal. This chat, which included the flight schedules for the F-18 Hornet fighter jets involved in the mission, was created on Hegseth’s personal phone under the name “Defense | Team Huddle” and included his wife, brother, personal lawyer, and others. 

Hegseth did not deny the report in a fiery exchange with reporters on the White House lawn. Mimicking his response to the March controversy over a Signal chat that accidentally included the Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, Hegseth turned the focus back on the press.

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“This is what the media does,” he said Monday in a cracking voice. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. It’s not going to work with me.”

For the sake of fairness, let’s stipulate that Hegseth is correct that the legacy media is hellbent on taking down President Donald Trump and his top lieutenants by any means necessary — and that they are perfectly willing to spread hoaxes in their efforts. Let’s also grant that it is likely that malign forces are entrenched at the Pentagon and are actively attempting to oust him. And finally, let’s acknowledge that military recruitment and morale are spiking upwards under Hegseth’s leadership, a fact for which he deserves praise. 

Even with all this in mind, the idea of sensitive military intelligence about an impending strike being shared with unauthorized persons is genuinely unsettling. The Defense Secretary should know better. It’s troubling that he didn’t. 

It is unfortunate for Hegseth and his defenders — a group that appears to be shrinking with major shake-ups to his inner circle — that this incident reinforces the worst perceptions of the new defense secretary, particularly that he is unqualified to manage the massive department and that his temperament isn’t suited to the task. The media outbursts and the transparent spin attempts reveal a man whose actions fall short of the office’s demands. Taking responsibility and moving on would have been the bigger move. His combative media strategy has made him shrink.

The stakes involved with being defense secretary are unimaginably high every day — not everyone is cut out for it. Slip-ups can undermine alliances, create strategic advantages for adversaries, and cause lasting legal and institutional damage. The perception of weakness in this most important role undermines the United States’s attempts to maneuver through a world on fire and secure the nation’s long-term interests. 

To be sure, Hegseth’s errors transcend politics. This isn’t primarily a political story, though we have conditioned ourselves to see every event through a political lens. It is primarily a story of survival. This is not a game; the “who’s up and who’s down” is secondary here.

This isn’t to say the politics are insignificant. Of course, it matters that Trump projects strength and confidence, and he is understandably loath to give his enemies a political win. But it’s arguable that sticking with Hegseth despite this most recent disturbing incident sets up a bigger win for Democrats in the future. The ship is taking on water, and the White House can only plug so many holes. 

Given the amateurish nature of this most recent flap, it’s reasonable to assume that more unsettling revelations await. With each new controversy, the America First movement’s claim to competence loses valuable credibility. At some point, you have to cut your losses.

HEGSETH ACKNOWLEDGES SHARING ‘UNCLASSIFIED’ INFO IN SIGNAL CHATS ‘THEN AND NOW’

The America First movement has rightly recentered securing America’s interests as the government’s top priority. Hegseth’s missteps undermine that mission. Should Trump choose a different path, a defense secretary who combines Hegseth’s outsider zeal with proven competence in managing classified information and navigating the Pentagon’s complexities would better embody Trump’s political movement.

More importantly, it would make America safer and stronger. Isn’t that what America First is all about?