Pete Hegseth’s top spin doctor lashed out at a report that top military brass are pushing back against Hegseth’s orders, only for his meltdown to blow up in his face.
The Washington Post revealed Sunday that commanders are warning Hegseth, the Fox News host-turned-defense secretary, against extending the deployment of more than 50,000 troops in the Middle East for President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
Sources told the Post that four-star commanders overseeing operations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, along with the Navy’s top admiral, each registered a formal ‘non-concur’ with proposals contained in the latest Secretary of Defense Orders Book, a classified Pentagon document produced twice a month to outline the worldwide availability, readiness, and movement of U.S. forces.
A ‘non-concur’ formally records a commander’s disagreement with a proposed course of action, even though the commander may ultimately be required to carry out the final order.
The Post’s report drew a furious response from Hegseth’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, who dismissed it as “Fake News” in a statement to the Daily Beast and alleged on X that the reporters had broken the law.
But amid the barrage, the chief Pentagon spokesman appeared to acknowledge that formal objections to Hegseth’s plans are routine.
“Publishing highly classified assessments from the Secretary’s orders book is a crime,” Parnell began his X post, which was soon hit with a Community Note pointing out that “the First Amendment protects the press’s right to publish classified information of public interest.”
“It’s a betrayal of the force,” the 45-year-old spokesman continued, “And much of what they’re publishing is inaccurate.”
Yet with the next sentence, he appeared to confirm that Hegseth routinely receives formal ‘non-concurs’ from military leaders.
“Of course, we demand candid military advice. Non-concurs are standard. The Secretary sees them constantly. That’s how you run a real military,” Parnell wrote. “We are in great shape around the world.”
He then resumed his meltdown over the Post’s report, which also highlighted concerns among top military leaders that the war with Iran is depleting U.S. defense capabilities and weakening the country’s ability to confront other adversaries, including China.
“This story isn’t about readiness. It’s TDS and PDS — they hate President Trump and Secretary Hegseth more than they love America,” he wrote, apparently putting a Pentagon spin on MAGA’s favorite diagnosis for critics, “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, stood by its story in a pointed statement.
“We’re confident in our reporting, our sourcing and the constitutional protections that guarantee the rights of news organizations to publish information in the public interest that holds officials accountable,” spokesperson Olivia Petersen said in a statement posted to the paper’s communications account on X. “The assertion that such publication is a crime is both incorrect and irresponsible.”
