The Pentagon’s former chief spokesman has warned that more “bombshell stories” about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are set to leak within days.
In a lengthy op-ed for Politico on Sunday, John Ullyot, who has served in several communications roles across President Donald Trump’s two terms and resigned from the Pentagon last week, ripped into Hegseth’s embarrassing blunders and claimed many in his “own inner circle” would “applaud quietly” should Trump oust him from his post.
Ullyot’s prediction came within hours of the revelation that Hegseth had a second secret Signal group sharing attack secrets before bombings in Yemen—and that this time it was his wife and his brother who were on it.
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“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president—who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote. “President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
Within weeks of Hegseth’s appointment as defense secretary—achieved only by JD Vance breaking a senate tie because three Republicans voted against him—the former Fox & Friends weekend anchor came under intense scrutiny following a string of unflattering reports.
In March, Hegseth was found to have disclosed sensitive plans for air strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen to a group chat on the encrypted app Signal. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally invited The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who later reported the chat’s contents.
That same month, Elon Musk was also invited to a “top-secret briefing” on China—which the White House later canceled. As Trump reportedly put it: “What the f--- is Elon doing there?”
It was also revealed that Hegseth’s wife Jennifer was invited to attend sensitive meetings with foreign officials, despite not being an employee of the Department of Defense.
The steady drip of negative headlines has culminated in what Ullyot has deemed the Pentagon’s “Month from Hell.”
The former spokesman also pointed to an ongoing investigation into information leaks within the Pentagon that has so far ousted at least three top advisers, and criticized Hegseth for overseeing a “near collapse inside the Pentagon’s top ranks.”
“Hegseth is now presiding over a strange and baffling purge that will leave him without his two closest advisers of over a decade,” Ullyot wrote, referring to Pentagon aides Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, who were removed last week as part of the investigation.
Ullyot also picked apart Hegseth’s involvement in Signalgate—and the secretary’s “horrible” public relations campaign that only exacerbated the issue.
“Once the Signalgate story broke, Hegseth followed horrible crisis-communications advice from his new public affairs team, who somehow convinced him to try to debunk the reporting through a vague, Clinton-esque non-denial denial that ‘nobody was texting war plans,’” Ullyot wrote. “This was a violation of PR rule number one — get the bad news out right away,” he continued, accusing Hegseth’s PR team of “turning an already-big story into a multi-week embarrassment for the president’s national security team.”
“There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately,” he added.
Though Ullyot recognized his prior support of Hegseth, writing that “he was the best man to shake things up at a Pentagon in need of serious reform,” he admitted that “even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon—and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.”
“One reason the American people gave Trump a conclusive victory last November is that he’s not a go-along, get-along creature of the Beltway like many of his recent predecessors,” Ullyot continued. “But rather a shrewd businessman who expects results and holds his team accountable for serious mistakes that occur on their watch.”
“The president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon. Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump chooses to do the same in short order at the top of the Defense Department,” he concluded.
Drama at the Pentagon has continued to escalate over the past few weeks, with The New York Times reporting as recently as Sunday that Hegseth was involved in yet another Signal scandal.
According to the newspaper, the defense secretary helmed another group chat on the app where he texted sensitive planning details about a military strike in Yemen to his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, among others.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
