Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an appearance at Fox Nation’s Patriot Awards on Thursday night, showboating for his former colleagues at the conservative news network and shouting out his fellow Trump administration official, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz.
Spotting Waltz in the crowd, Hegseth pointed him out and said, “I see Mike Waltz, Mike I’ll hit you up on Signal later,” earning a mixture of shocked responses, laughter and applause. Waltz, who was not audible, could be seen mouthing, “I’m good,” in response to Hegseth.
“Too soon?” Hegseth responded with a smile on his face. “C’mon,” he added.
The joke was a reference to the disastrous Signalgate incident that took place earlier this year, when someone in Trump’s inner circle accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to a sensitive Signal chat in which officials discussed potential strikes on Yemen’s Houthis.
Hegseth was an active participant in the chat, sharing particularly sensitive information about impending airstrikes including launch and attack times. He and Vice President JD Vance also took time to criticize European allies and their “free-loading.”
Waltz, who was serving as a National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump at the time, left his post following the leak, alongside Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong. He had been in the role for just 101 days by the time of his departure.
That same day, the president announced on Truth Social that he would be nominating Waltz for the role of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role,” the president wrote.
In his speech at the awards on Thursday night, Hegseth celebrated the Trump administration’s achievements and echoed remarks he previously made in a controversial rant to top military leaders, deriding wokeness and taking aim at “men in dresses”.
He closed out his speech by sharing orders given to him by the president, reminding attendees of the Trump administration’s goal to “be tough, and restore the warrior ethos.”
