Pete Hegseth is back in the soup again. Will he keep his job running America’s military… or be sent back to his old gig as a Fox weekend host?
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to feel that national security begins at home — and that if you can’t tell your family our country’s biggest secrets, who can you tell? Last month, the former "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host reportedly shared detailed information about a planned military strike in Yemen with about a dozen people, including his brother, his wife (a former Fox News producer) and even his personal lawyer. It’s the second time Hegseth blabbed about sensitive military issues on Signal, an encrypted but private messaging platform. He sent those messages on the same day he mistakenly shared warplans with Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg (who is not, to be absolutely clear, Pete's wife).
- It seems “almost certain” that the details of the attack were classified and shouldn’t have been on Hegseth’s personal phone, said Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who worked on counter-terrorism and military operations. “These details were shared with people who had no need to know and some of whom may have lacked security clearances,” Finucane told What A Day. “I can't think of a scenario in which this sort of sharing would be appropriate.”
- Signalgate 2.0 is hardly the only bad news for Hegseth. Some of his closest advisers have been fired in recent days, amid questions about leaking and high-level infighting. He’s even facing backlash from his own party. “I like him on Fox. But does he have the experience to lead one of the largest organizations in the world? That’s a concern,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Politico. “He’s acting like he’s above the law — and that shows an amateur person.” Really? I thought this guy was an expert!
- The White House forcefully pushed back on an NPR report that it has already begun the search for a new defense secretary. After all, Trump hates giving the media a win — and it's far from clear he’d cut Hegseth loose, for that reason alone. The president and his team are standing behind Hegseth, calling concerns about the Signal leak a “waste of time.”
Trump’s Pentagon is in a state of “full-blown meltdown,” according to the department’s own former top spokesperson, who left his job in a huff and now says Hegseth will be fired soon.
- You know things are bad when even a Trumpworld spokesperson says the situation is completely fucked. “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon … the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president,” John Ullyot, former chief Pentagon spokesperson pushed out by Hegseth for a series of controversial decisions, wrote in a Politico op-ed. “It’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
- But is this guy just exaggerating because he’s salty? Some folks suspect that may be the case. I spoke with a current Trump official and a former one, each who know Ullyot well. While he wants to give Ullyot the benefit of the doubt, the current official said, “it does read like some very sour grapes.” Perhaps. But those grapes taste like fine wine to me.
The Democratic National Committee took a page out of MAGA’s playbook, dunking on Hegseth today with a reference to both his fondness for alcohol and his national security DMs... by posting a picture of a blurry iPhone screen, labeled “Pete’s POV.” |
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Sometimes, it feels like some nervous White House aide grabs Donald Trump’s phone and posts the “responsible” message, instead of whatever wackadoo thing Trump wanted to say.
And so it is with the death of Pope Francis, a moment that sparked tributes from around the world, and solemn praise from Trump for the man he first sparred with years ago.
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, before ordering flags at half-staff across the country and announcing he’ll go to Pope Francis’ funeral with First Lady Melania Trump.
That note differed dramatically from Trump’s Easter message a day before. “Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country,” Trump wrote.
While the president was spewing vitriol, Pope Francis appeared to condemn Vice President JD Vance for MAGA’s radical deportation policies.
“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants,” Francis wrote in an address delivered hours after meeting with Vance. He previously called Trump’s policies toward migrants a “disgrace” and “not Christian.” Will another progressive firebrand, perhaps one who cares deeply about social justice issues and LGBTQ rights, take his spot? There are several cardinals who are seen as possible ideological successors, and others who represent more traditional views. |
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The Trump administration is planning major cuts to the State Department, which would include cutting most of its Africa operations and departments that deal with climate and refugee issues, the New York Times reports. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the report “fake news,” while diplomats called the potential cuts “ bonkers crazypants.” Personally, I presume Trump steps into his bonkers crazypants every morning, before waddling into the Oval Office to make some more terrible decisions. Either those, or his authoritarian pantaloons.
Four House Democrats landed in El Salvador to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father mistakenly deported by ICE. Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed a prisoner swap with Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro… offering the U.S. migrants locked up in his country for what he called “political prisoners.” So now people in America can be traded like pawns between two dictators? Great.
The White House plans to pull an additional $1 billion in funding from Harvard University, simply because they’re so angry at the school for defying the administration’s wishes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Trump officials reportedly sent Harvard a list of demands to negotiate, thinking it would remain confidential… and then Harvard went public. (Another report says that Trump officials mistakenly sent the letter .) As The Onion astutely observed last week, “Nation Can’t Believe It On Harvard’s Side.”
The Trump administration is cutting a federal lab that works on sexually transmitted diseases, as some states report huge upticks in syphilis cases. “We have a raging congenital syphilis epidemic in this country,” David C. Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, told the Guardian. “We know this is going to negatively impact on our ability to prevent babies being born with syphilis and to prevent stillborns from syphilis.” Are we surprised that Trump is against testing for STIs? I’m not!
Aidan Maese-Czeropski, reportedly dubbed the “Senate Twink” after he allegedly had sex in a Senate hearing room, spent time in a psych ward after the scandal and moved to Australia, he told a local outlet. He now hopes to open a pigeon sanctuary. Honestly, that sounds a lot better than working on Capitol Hill.
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
It’s pathetic. Some of the biggest names in tech and media are already rolling over for Trump. But our friends at The xxxxxx refuse to play that game.
Sarah Longwell, publisher of The xxxxxx says, “We’re independent, so we don’t have to worry about pleasing corporate bosses or political overlords. We say what’s true, and we give it nearly all of our coverage away so everyone can see what’s happening. No flattery. No strings attached. No surrender. We have a country to save."
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Politico listed the seven most shameless attention-seekers in Congress, and MAGAworld caught some serious strays. “Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has been thirsty for a generation,” reads one analysis. They also dubbed JD Vance a “reply guy,” aka someone who can’t stop picking fights on social media. The award for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)? “The Most Obsessed With His Own Podcast Award.”
Runner John Korir fell to the pavement and dropped his bib when the Boston Marathon started this morning — and then won the race anyways. He finished with a time of 2:04:45, which is a roughly 4:45 mile pace. I, personally, would’ve just laid on the pavement and called it a day.
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