Hegseth trying to show Trump he's a fighter amid chaos in Pentagon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been focusing more on public and television appearances so he can speak directly to President Trump through the appearances.

Pete Hegseth wants Donald Trump to see him as a fighter amid the negative stories swirling around the defense secretary, two U.S. officials told NBC News, and has been focusing more on public and television appearances — including on his old network, Fox News — in which he can speak directly to the president.

Trump had told Hegseth during a recent phone call that he did not approve of his texting information about airstrikes in Yemen to a Signal group that included Hegseth’s wife, his brother and his personal attorney, describing what the defense secretary had done as childish, one U.S. official and another person familiar with the conversation said. The call ended with Trump telling Hegseth to keep fighting, however.

As he battles to keep his job amid a flood of reports about his behavior and infighting in his Pentagon, Hegseth’s behavior has become “erratic,” and he seems increasingly “insecure” about his job and standing in the administration, leading him to frequently reinforce to staff that he can’t allow himself to be fired, according to two officials familiar with the situation.

Officials who operate in Hegseth’s vicinity describe him as difficult and prickly, and said that he berates and yells at the staff. The officials described a tense environment with fighting, even yelling, among Hegseth’s senior staff. 

Last month, Hegseth was furious about leaks of his having approved a military briefing for Elon Musk on China, according to multiple defense officials. When officials found out The New York Times was preparing to report the meeting, Hegseth screamed at Adm. Chris Grady, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying he would “f---ing polygraph” him to find out if he leaked the information about the meeting, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the meeting. Hegseth staffers also threatened to polygraph Adm. Sam Paparo, the commander of U.S. IndoPacific Command, and Lt. Gen D.A. Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, the officials said, and told the Joint Chiefs who had access to information about the Musk briefing and the agenda that they would be subject to polygraphs, the officials said.