Calls for President Trump to fire Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are intensifying amid several media-driven scandals and turnover inside the Pentagon.

After messages about a Yemeni bombing campaign were shared between top military personnel on the encrypted app Signal and then leaked to a reporter, new allegations have emerged that Hegseth was sharing confidential information with his wife on the Signal app. These accusations have not been substantiated but are fueling a narrative that Hegseth is a liability and must be eliminated from the Trump administration. 

Additionally, Hegseth aide Dan Caldwell, the Deputy Defense Secretary's chief of staff Stephen Feinberg, Hegseth's deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot were dismissed from the Trump administration last week for allegedly leaking classified information to the press. Caldwell appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show, where he said he was fired after being framed as a leaker by deep-state insiders because of his long-stated opposition to war with Iran.

Throughout these controversies, the White House has maintained that they stand behind Hegseth completely, and Hegseth seems unshaken by the attacks. The intense campaign to destroy Hegseth should surprise nobody. This was a choice for Secretary of Defense by President Trump that was entirely out of left field. Detractors said Hegseth was inexperienced, and out of his depth, but from the perspective of the MAGA movement, Hegseth was an appealing choice precisely because of his lack of bureaucratic seasoning. Although it may come with a steeper learning curve, Hegseth's unfamiliarity with how things ought to be done in Washington, D.C., makes him a more ideal candidate from the perspective of a Trump supporter.

Hegseth is a true outsider. He spent years as a host on Fox News, steadily adopting the America First mindset over time. Describing himself as a "recovering former neocon," Hegseth took a similar trajectory as most conservatives during the Trump years. He understood that the institutions that Americans trust, even the U.S. military, have become corrupt and failed the people. Most persons appointed to Secretary of Defense or other prestigious Pentagon positions are social climbers who gleefully toe the line for the excesses of the military-industrial complex. There are often cushy jobs waiting from defense contractors when these people are done with their "public service." They deviously hide behind the uniform to deceive the masses.

One such example of this culture of bureaucratic treachery is the Afghanistan Papers, published by the Washington Post in 2019. As falsehoods about Trump/Russia collusion were dominating the headlines, this true bombshell exposing government malevolence slid under the radar. The Afghanistan Papers demonstrated that top Pentagon brass knew the Afghanistan war was lost for years. Still, they deliberately lied to the public to keep the war effort going as long as possible because they cared more about protecting their reputations than saving the troops from spilling their blood in a hopeless war effort.

The appointment of Hegseth as Defense Secretary is already paying dividends for the cause of America First. Recent reports show that Hegseth was a key voice in a coalition that urged President Trump to call off an Israeli-led strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Hegseth reportedly joined Vice President J.D. Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in dissuading President Trump from conducting a significant escalation toward a war in Iran. An Iran war would be at least as costly and disastrous as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and should be avoided as a top priority of the Trump administration.

There are certainly war hawks and neocons who remain influential in the Trump White House and continuously attempt to sway President Trump in the wrong direction. Still, a far more substantial contingent opposes reckless military interventionism than in the first administration. This is why Hegseth is under attack. If he is successfully destroyed, other voices for a rational foreign policy will be next on the hit list.  It was of paramount importance for Trump to appoint a Secretary of Defense who was from outside of the traditional bureaucratic structure. Hegseth fit the bill, fulfilling Trump's campaign promises to drain the Washington D.C. swamp, and nobody should be surprised that the empire is striking back against him. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of veteran officials in the Pentagon who are angry that they must answer to Hegseth. Let them be mad, and MAGA should stand steadfastly with Hegseth as he diligently fulfills Trump's anti-establishment mandate.