US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a joint news conference with Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on March 30, 2025. Photo: VCG

The White House dismissed NPR's report about looking for a new Defense Secretary as "fake news" on Monday local time, after the Trump administration rejected the growing controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a second group chat leaks emerged, while Hegseth himself publicly defended his actions.

According to a report by National Public Radio (NPR), an American public broadcasting organization, a US official revealed that the White House has begun searching for a new Defense Secretary.

The Trump administration's X account "Rapid Response 47" posted a tweet late Monday calling NPR's report "fake news."

The US President dismissed a deepening controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth, declaring the embattled defense secretary is "doing a great job" despite seismic dysfunction within the Pentagon amid political infighting, numerous firings, and reports he divulged to his wife, brother and lawyer the highly sensitive details of an imminent military operation, according to The Washington Post.

This followed a report Sunday by the New York Times indicating Hegseth on March 15 had shared the timing and other key aspects of a bombing campaign in Yemen with a small group of people that included his wife, Jennifer, brother, Phil, and personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, using the encrypted but unclassified, messaging application Signal.

According to the New York Times, Hegseth seemed to strike the note of defiance that president was looking for in a clash with journalists on Monday morning. He lashed out at reporters and television crews as he attended the annual Easter Egg Roll with members of his family.

Hegseth dismissed the Times article as one of many "hit pieces" that aired accusations from "disgruntled former employees." He said he had spoken to the president and they were "on the same page all the way."

The defense secretary pointed at the reporters and called them "hoaxsters," the report said.

According to the report, the president and Hegseth spoke on the phone on Sunday night, a few hours after the Times article was published, a person briefed on the call said. The president told Hegseth that disgruntled "leakers" were to blame for the report and made clear that he had the defense secretary's back.

On Monday morning, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, went on "Fox & Friends," the same show that Hegseth had hosted during his career as a television personality. Leavitt insisted that Hegseth had not shared classified information in the chat, said the New York Times.

Global Times