Exclusive: The White House is looking to replace Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.
The White House has begun the process of looking for a new leader at the Pentagon to replace Pete Hegseth, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
This comes as Hegseth is again mired in controversy over sharing military operational details in a group chat.
The defense secretary is under fire after revelations that he shared classified information in a group chat with his wife, brother and lawyer, according to the official.
It happened at about the same time in March that Hegseth shared similar details with top White House officials in a different Signal chat group that accidentally included a journalist.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that there's an effort to replace Hegseth, posting on X that President Trump "stands strongly" behind him.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump backed Hegseth and said concerns over the Signal chats are a "waste of time.". »