Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was spotted chomping away on a mystery substance after landing in Delaware with President Donald Trump to attend the dignified transfer ceremony for six troops killed in the Iran War.
The arrival at Dover Air Force Base was televised before the ceremony on Wednesday, which was closed to the press.
After being greeted by local air base officers, the Pentagon chief continued chewing on what aides said was not gum before heading into the private service.
Six crew members of a KC-135 Air Force refueling aircraft died in a plane crash over friendly territory in western Iraq, bringing the total of U.S. casualties to 13 service members since the war began more than two weeks ago.
The president was widely criticized last week for wearing a white “USA” baseball cap during a dignified transfer. Lawmakers from both parties lambasted Trump, and Fox News came under fire for showing footage over the weekend of Trump without the cap—using video from a previous visit.
The network issued an on-air apology after accusations that it was seeking to cover up the president’s major gaffe.
Before paying his respects to the families on Wednesday, Trump and a small group traveling with him on Air Force One, including Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson, met with military chiefs.
Hegseth saluted the Dover Air Base officers before standing to one side, still chewing.
Asked by the Daily Beast for comment on Hegseth’s chewing, a Pentagon spokesperson said: “This reporting is inaccurate.”
They offered no further explanation.
The media was not allowed into the service at the families’ request, so no further footage was available until the president’s departure.
Trump once described the solemn ritual as the “toughest thing” he had to do as president. “I hate to do it, but it’s a part of war, isn’t it?” he said after attending the March 7 dignified transfer of the six troops killed in a drone strike on a Kuwait military center.
The six service members honored on Wednesday were Maj. John A. “Alex” Klinner, 33, from Birmingham, Alabama, Capt. Ariana Linse Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; Tech. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky, Capt. Seth Koval, 38, a resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, from Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, of Columbus, and Master Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, also of Columbus.
The crash was the result of an incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace.” No further details have yet been provided by the Pentagon.
“Every person on that aircraft carried a weight most Americans will never see, and they carried it with professionalism, courage, and a level of quiet excellence that deserves to be recognized,” said a friend of one of the fallen, retired Lt. Col Ernesto Nisperos, according to the Associated Press.
