Jimmy Kimmel declared that one Trump cabinet official might soon be out the door after an unprecedented foreign policy mistake.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth baffled President Trump last week when he abruptly canceled the 9-month deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland.
Hegseth’s move appeared to be in response to an early May announcement from the president: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had criticized Trump’s war in Iran, so Trump declared he’d withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.
Trump apparently holds no anger towards Poland, however. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump berated Hegseth over the phone for his decision. Shortly afterward, Trump reversed Hegseth’s move and sent 5,000 troops to Poland, announcing the news on his Truth Social account.
Kimmel called Hegseth a “bigger screw-up than Eric” for his mistake in his monologue Wednesday, dismissing Hegseth’s plan as a misguided attempt to “please Mar-a-Lardo.”
Kimmel referred to Hegseth as a “soon-to-be former secretary,” and detailed to viewers just how poorly Hegseth’s plan went over with his fire-happy boss.
“Sources say that after he announced plans to pull the troops, he got an angry phone call from Trump, who had to explain that Poland was not the country he was mad at,” Kimmel explained.
The late-night host joked, “We’ve all made mistakes, but only Pete Hegseth can make a ‘Donald Trump knows more about Poland than I do’-caliber mistake.”
Referencing the rumors around Hegseth’s alleged alcoholism, Kimmel jokingly offered the secretary some geography advice.
“Here’s an easy way to remember what’s what: If you want to send troops to the Netherlands, use the code word ‘Heineken,’” Kimmel said.
He joked further, “If you want to send them to Germany, you say Jägermeister. Stoli is Russia, and France is the gay wine one.”
Despite the apparent mix-up between Hegseth and Trump, the White House claims their relationship remains strong.
“President Trump appreciates all the secretary has done—and will continue to do—in executing the America First agenda within our military," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the WSJ.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell claimed Trump and Hegseth “communicate constantly” and are “in lockstep” on their approach to U.S. troop presence in Europe.
Critics note, however, that the Trump administration has made similar claims right before the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and Attorney General Pam Bondi in April.
In a Truth Social post in late January, Trump praised Noem for her performance and claimed she had “done a really GREAT JOB!” He fired her less than five weeks later.
