'Internal knife fighting' between top Trump officials led to Pentagon shake-up: report
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) listen as President Donald Trump (not pictured) delivers remarks on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis
The Daily Beast reports “internal knife fighting” in President Donald Trump’s inner circle likely led to the suspension of three top Pentagon aides.
Far-right social media influencer Douglass Mackey posted on X that a widening rift in the administration triggered the cancellation of a planned Israeli attack on Iran and probably explains the abrupt departure of some officials on administrative leave.
“Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance and Susie Wiles helped shut down Israel/USA joint attack on Iran -- NY Times,” wrote Mackey, a white nationalist who was incarcerated for seven months in 2023 for spreading disinformation to suppress Democratic turnout in 2016. “This probably explains why three of Hegseth's aides have now been fired for supposed ‘leaks’--internal knife fighting is intensifying.”
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TheTimes writes that officials chose sides in the lead-up to the Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and U.S. Central Command head Gen. Michael E. Kurilla were reportedly hawkish about the Israeli/U.S. joint attack, but Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance were all wary of consequences.
Trump eventually sided with the more cautious bloc that opposed the strike, but Hegseth advisers Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick were soon escorted from the building, followed by staff chief Colin Carroll over alleged leaks.
“Caldwell was a low key but vital official,” wrote Military.com Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin, who added Sec. Hegseth considered him “the best point of contact for the National Security Council in the Signalgate chat regarding the strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.”
The Signalgate chat made national news on how easily a media reporter could be roped into secret military conversations and how the Trump administration relies on self-deleting public chat software that insulates the administration from legal investigation and audits. Politico reports the leaks included military plans for the Panama Canal and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon to discuss China, however.
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Read the full Daily Beast article here (subscription required).
