Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a foul-mouthed rant against an adviser who spoke out against the deadly airstrikes on alleged drug boats, according to a damning new report.
Sources told The Daily Mail that the embattled Pentagon chief is not only ignoring but actively antagonizing senior civilian and military advisers who have questioned the attacks that have left more than 80 people dead in both the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
Hegseth—who has faced war crime allegations for a September boat strike that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat—reportedly called one adviser who raised concerns in memos about the airstrikes a “p---y” during a meeting in which the adviser was not present. Hegseth allegedly called another adviser who questioned the legality of the strikes “weak” several times during two meetings in September, sources told The Daily Mail.
The Pentagon has denied that the macho-image-obsessed Hegseth used the misogynistic slur against his own Defense Department advisers.
“As someone who’s in most meetings with the Secretary, I can tell you from firsthand experience that this isn’t true,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell told The Daily Mail. “He listens a lot, asks good questions, takes recommendations, and trusts his team and commanders.”
Hegseth is under mounting scrutiny over the so-called “double tap” strike, which killed two survivors seen clinging to burned wreckage. The Washington Post first reported that he gave an order to “kill everybody” on the suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, an allegation that Hegseth has denied.
The actual order to carry out the strike was allegedly given by Navy Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, who oversaw operations that day, under Hegseth’s authorization. Bradley has testified that there was no order to “kill everybody” in the operation.
Questions remain about whether Hegseth knew that two survivors remained after the initial strike, and whether the Trump administration’s claim that the second strike was justified because the alleged “narco-terrorists” were attempting to continue their drug run holds water.
The Daily Mail reports that the controversial strike is the culmination of a turbulent period at the Pentagon under Hegseth’s leadership, during which the former Fox News personality has routinely ignored input from intelligence and military officials.
“My guess is that he ignored the professionals that day as usual,” one source told the outlet regarding the second strike.
Others have suggested that Hegseth has created a culture at the Pentagon of “You’re either with him or against him,” resulting in what they describe as a “dangerous dynamic.”
“I’ve worked with several defense secretaries, and this one is all about his own power and ego,” one source told The Daily Mail.
“He has sidelined or booted out people who would have warned him about this Caribbean fiasco in the first place,” another added.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
