‘Pete Is Not Speaking the Truth’: Officials Accuse Hegseth of Misleading President About War

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Officials have accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading President Donald Trump about the Iran War, declaring that “Pete is not speaking the truth.”

Hegseth has been feverishly blasting the media’s coverage of the Iran War, saying Americans would not believe U.S. “success” in the war if they “listened” to the mainstream media.

On March 6, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Iranians are the only people who should be concerned about the war.

“No one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said of the U.S. “We’re putting the other guys in danger. That’s our job. So, we’re not concerned about that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this, but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”

In a new report by The Washington Post, anonymous officials and analysts are quoted as showing concern about the negative influence that Hegseth’s overzealous, false optimism is having on Trump.

“Pete is not speaking truth to the president,” one official said in a statement. “As a result, the president is out there repeating misleading information.”

In a shocking post to Truth Social on Tuesday morning, the president threatened to wipe out Iran’s population.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Trump has consistently boasted about the success of Operation Epic Fury in Iran, announcing on Monday that U.S. forces are “doing unbelievably well” — a perspective that has left officials feeling uneasy.

Per the officials interviewed by The Washington Post, Iran’s recent strike down of two U.S. aircraft suggests the country continues to have more power than Hegseth, and in turn, Trump would have the public believe.

Kelly Grieco, a military analyst at the Stimson Center, said the instance is proof that the U.S. has “air superiority” but not “air supremacy.”

Additionally, while Hegseth has said that Iran’s missile and drone programs are being “overwhelmingly destroyed,” CNN reported the country still has “significant” missile launching capabilities.

Another unnamed official said Iran’s tactics, too, have changed to “preserving their magazine.”

“After earlier rounds of attacks by the U.S. and Israel, Iran took actions to protect its missile and drone arsenal to wait out U.S. munition use,” the individual said in their interview with The Washington Post. “Now our magazine is low on our side, and the Israelis are in the same position.”

The White House has jumped to Hegseth and Trump’s defense amid scrutiny, with spokeswoman Anna Kelly telling The Washington Post that Trump has “always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any possible contingency.”

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