Just hours after President Donald Trump declared in a newly published interview that he believes Pete Hegseth is “gonna get it together” and described his embattled Defense Secretary’s job as “safe,” the U.S. Navy accidentally lost a $60 million fighter jet when it fell into the Red Sea.
"A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet has been 'lost' at sea after it fell overboard from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier while it was being towed on board, the Navy said in a statement on Monday," according to CNN. Reports also indicate that "the Truman made a hard turn to evade Houthi fire, which contributed to the fighter jet falling overboard."
The jet is said to have sunk.
In their interview, The Atlantic's Ashley Parker told Trump, "You’re a big supporter of Pete Hegseth’s, but he’s fired three top advisers in recent weeks, he rotated out his chief of staff, he installed a makeup studio at the Pentagon, he put attack plans in two different Signal chats, including one with his wife and personal attorney. Have you had a talk with him about getting things together?"
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"Yeah, I have," the Commander-in-Chief replied.
Asked, "What did you say?" Trump replied: "Pete’s gone through a hard time. I think he’s gonna get it together. I think he’s a smart guy. He is a talented guy. He’s got a lot of energy. He’s been beat up by this, very much so. But I had a talk with him, a positive talk, but I had a talk with him."
And when asked if, "for now, you think Hegseth stays?" Trump replied: "Yeah, he’s safe."
Critics were quick to weigh in.
"This is why I said @petehegseth's rank incompetence needs closer scrutiny here," wrote national security and civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler. "He keeps claiming his half-a---- campaign against the Houthis is having success. But s--- like this keeps happening, planes dropping off aircraft carriers."
"These are the sailors Whiskey Pete put at risk with his reckless treatment of classified information," Wheeler added.
"Another win for this super competent national security team," mocked U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). "I thought our strikes in Yemen were 'restoring deterrence'."
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Democratic political strategist Chris D. Jackson adds, "This is what happens when Trump and Pete Hegseth treated military leadership like a frat house. Unqualified leadership has real-world consequences."
Barbara Starr, the former CNN national security reporter for more than two decades, strongly suggested there is more here than may appear.
"IMPORTANT: IF [the] Truman had to make a sudden hard turn to avoid enemy fire this is extremely significant. The goal for US troops is to always bring down the enemy as far away as possible NOT close in. And this potentially suggests further improvements in Houthi guidance and targeting. Def more to learn here."
"Moreover," Starr continued, "and equally important why does the military press statement not disclose this possibility?"
HuffPost's White House correspondent S.V. Dáte commented, "Back when the Navy was woke I don’t recall them dropping an F-18 overboard."
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