Pete Hegseth is said to have lost the respect of his senior officers after an “embarrassing” speech in which he railed against “fat troops” and the state of the US armed forces.

A new memo on communications with Capitol Hill, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, follows restrictions on reporting out of the Pentagon.

Zookeeper and conservationist Robert Irwin filed a $60 million lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. A rumor that circulated online in October 2025 claimed (archived) zookeeper and conservationist Robert Irwin filed a $60 million lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

"The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections," Fox News said in a statement with other major media outlets.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the incident on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and noted that Pete Hegseth “is safe” following his plane's emergency landing in the U.K.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, hint that the story was fabricated was that Hegseth no longer works for Fox News.

Eight months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Air Force’s top lawyer, the judge advocate general tasked with those duties has stepped down. No one has yet been nominated to permanently fill either of the service’s top legal jobs.

The president gave the order to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after touting U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of South America.