A longtime biographer of Donald Trump says insiders are leaking details on Pete Hegseth’s “weird conduct” because everyone besides the president wants him out.
Michael Wolff writes on his Substack, HOWL, that Hegseth’s leak problem stems from his unpopularity in the Pentagon and White House.
“Daily leaks about his blunders, stupidity, malfeasance, and weird conduct—his wife has moved into the Pentagon as his effective second-in-command—have become part of a growing rear-guard rebellion to get him out,” Wolff writes.
The biographer further alleges that the campaign to oust Hegseth has reached the West Wing.
“In the White House, the president’s closest circle of advisors believe Hegseth needs to be fired—yesterday is their timetable,” Wolff writes. “Everyone is alarmed—truly, freaked out. He has no supporters left anywhere.”
However, he writes that there is a single, all-important outlier: “Except for Donald Trump.”
The Pentagon did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Hegseth’s derogatory nicknames are proof of his incompetence, Wolff suggested. Wolff previously revealed that Hegseth’s former Fox News boss, Roger Ailes, referred to him as “Colonel Vodka” because he talked so often about his National Guard service and was known to drink.
The Daily Beast exclusively reported last week that Hegseth’s current nickname in the Pentagon is “No Tab Pete,” because while in uniform he had no patches like “Ranger” and “Sapper” that signify special combat skills.
Hegseth, 46, has been weighed down by numerous scandals in his year-and-a-half tenure at the Pentagon. After narrowly being confirmed by the Senate, which required Vice President JD Vance to break a 50-50 tie, Hegseth’s tenure has been defined by a leaked Signal chat, radical religion, a war on wokeness, and, now, a war with Iran that has no end date in sight.
There are concerns in the Pentagon that Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, plays an outsized role in his decision-making. Last month, more than 20 former and current DOD officials told The New York Times that Jennifer was a key part of her husband’s decision-making process—reportedly going as far as personally interviewing candidates for jobs at the Defense Department.
Wolff alleges that Hegseth’s lack of independent thought is why he landed the job, as Trump sought to have no friction from the Pentagon in his second term—something he had to contend with in MAGA 1.0 after tapping James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, to run the military.
“He holds his current job not because of expertise, experience, and past successes, but precisely because he is lacking them,” Wolff said of Hegseth.
Trump came to loathe Mattis for daring to share his expertise ahead of big decisions.
“Hence, Trump, in his second attempt at being president, hires Colonel Vodka to run his Defense Department,” Wolff wrote.
Hegseth was one of countless Fox News hosts who pitched themselves for a job in the first Trump administration. Then a co-host on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump ultimately passed on him at the time. His alleged brown-nosing, however, did not go unnoticed, according to Wolff.
“Hegseth was regarded by Trump aides as among the most shameless, abject, and pitiable” of the Fox hosts who auditioned themselves to Trump, Wolff said. “Indeed, Hegseth made a desperate pitch to join the administration as Veterans Affairs Secretary, or undersecretary—even Trump thought that was a stretch.”
