US Politics 1 min read

Hegseth Keeps Trump’s Favor for Now Despite Fresh Missteps

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Dave Dave Source: Bloomberg

Published 1 hr ago

US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shake hands at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Takeaways by Bloomberg AI

In the high-frequency churn of President Donald Trump’s first term, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s repeated missteps would have fueled guessing games about his imminent firing. In the second, he has maintained White House support — at least for now.

On Thursday, a Pentagon inspector general found that Hegseth risked endangering US pilots, troops and attack plans with his decision to send sensitive information in Signal texts. Days earlier, he was on the defensive over his handling of an attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that raised accusations of war crimes.