US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is under mounting pressure from scandals surrounding strikes on alleged drug boats and his use of Signal to discuss sensitive military information, sparking growing criticism and calls for him to quit. Hegseth — a former Army National Guard major who went from Fox News co-host to leader of the world’s most powerful military — is no stranger to controversy and was only narrowly confirmed by the Senate earlier this year.
The strikes on alleged narcotics smugglers — especially an incident in which survivors of an initial attack were subsequently killed — and his use of commercial messaging app Signal to talk about an impending operation in Yemen, have fuelled further opposition to Hegseth. “He’s in another difficult position. In fact, his two big problems have now merged,” said Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.