White House denies report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be replaced

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April 22, 2025

A report published by NPR this week cited anonymous sources who claimed that President Donald Trump is looking to replace Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was quick to denounce the story as being an example of "fake news."

Leavitt says sources have "no idea what they are talking about"

According to Fox News, the White House press secretary pushed back against NPR's claims in a social media post on Tuesday.

"This [NPR] story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about," she wrote.

This ⁦@NPR⁩ story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.

As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind ⁦@SecDef⁩. https://t.co/5Npig8968v

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 21, 2025

Leavitt went on to assert that "[a]s the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind [the secretary of defense]."

Trump talks up Hegseth's record when speaking with reporters

A post from the White House’s rapid response account on X took a similar position, stating, "Lies from NPR — which, as we all know, is a Fake News propaganda machine."

Meanwhile, NewsNation reported that Trump came to Hegseth's defense when speaking with journalists over the weekend at a White House Easter event, saying, "He's doing a great job. Ask the Houthis how he's doing."

An unnamed White House figure was also quoted as telling the outlet that "[r]umors have been inaccurately spreading about Secretary Hegseth since the moment he was announced for the job."

"Military recruitment is soaring. America is respected again, and the secretary is showing true leadership," the anonymous source continued.

"Any notion that tries to make the argument that in less than 100 days President Trump is questioning any of his Cabinet choices, nevertheless firing them, is complete and utter nonsense," he or she went on to add.

Former DOD spokesman warns of "full-blown" Pentagon meltdown

The NPR article pointed to an embarrassing incident last month in which journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in a Signal chat.

The chat was being used to discuss an impending military strike against the Houthis, a Iranian-back terror group which operates in Yemen.

NPR also highlighted a recent opinion piece written by former Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson John Ullyot in which he warned of a "full-blown meltdown" going on inside the Pentagon.