One of President Trump’s biggest loyalists in cable news is trashing Pete Hegseth as “insecure” and “fake.”
Newsmax host Greg Kelly, 57, raged against the 45-year-old defense secretary on Friday after Navy Secretary John Phelan was ousted in the middle of the war with Iran.
“What a DESPICABLE guy Hegseth is,” Kelly wrote in a scathing X post. “Frustrated that he can’t remove his Real Nemesis, the Army Secretary, He Fires the NAVY Secretary, has him ‘walked out of the building’ by security.”
Phelan, a wealthy financier and Republican donor, got the boot after just 13 months on the job. He was nominated by Trump in November 2024 and confirmed by the Senate in March last year.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced in a statement on Wednesday that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately,” but did not provide further details. Undersecretary Hung Cao was named Acting Secretary of the Navy.
The New York Times reported that tensions had been simmering between Phelan and Hegseth over differences in their management style and other personnel issues. Sources also told CNN that the defense secretary was irked by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump, which he viewed as an attempt to bypass him, though an administration official said the president agreed with the firing.
Kelly, who spent nine years as an attack pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps, viewed the abrupt firing as disrespectful—and revived controversies from Hegseth’s confirmation hearing to hit back at him.
“This was NOT an Urgent matter. Could have given the SECNAV a month, maybe 2 weeks’ notice. You know, The DECENT thing to do,” he said. “Instead this Insecure FAKE, who Lied and Conned his way thru Life (see Mom) and the Trump admin (see ‘confidential settlement’ ie Blackmail of accuser #1) Blows up Someone Else’s life bc he can’t Handle his own.”
“Not CUTE anymore,” he concluded, after apparently alluding to a $50,000 payment Hegseth reportedly told a senator he’d made to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. He maintained at the time that he’d been “falsely accused” and cleared of wrongdoing.
When reached for comment on Kelly’s remarks, the Pentagon referred the Daily Beast to Parnell’s earlier statement announcing Phelan’s termination.
It’s not the first time Kelly has called out the self-styled secretary of war.
Earlier this month, after three high-ranking officials were kicked out of the Army, the Newsmax host also went into a rage.
“Hegseth….Weirdo DRAMA ‘somehow’ follows this guy everywhere he goes,” he said at the time. “From ‘Fox and Friends’ Birthday Parties to the SITUATION ROOM, it’s always A Problem with this guy. He Lied to the Trump Admin about his extensive Personal Issues, and now he’s blowing up Army Careers of Good Men—because of his personal INSECURITY. Paranoid Pete!”
