Donald Trump isn’t giving a clear answer regarding Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s future.
On Tuesday, Trump sat for an interview with ABC News’s Terry Moran, who asked the president if he had “100 percent confidence in Pete Hegseth.”
Trump’s reply didn’t exactly inspire confidence.
“I don’t have 100 percent confidence in anything. Okay? Anything. Do I have 100 percent, it’s a stupid question. Look—” Trump said, before Moran interjected.
“It’s a pretty important position,” said Moran.
“I have—no, no no. You don’t have 100 percent. Only a liar would say ‘I have 100 percent confidence.’ I don’t have 100 percent confidence that we’re gonna finish this interview,” Trump said.
NEW: President Trump goes off on ABC News’ Terry Moran after he asks him about his confidence level in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.Trump: He’s a very good defense secretary.Moran: Do you have a 100% confidence in him?Trump: Do I have a 100% confidence in anything? It’s a… pic.twitter.com/v4XmlwkSD2
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 30, 2025
While the interview did continue, Hegseth would have probably preferred a stronger show of support from his boss at that moment. The former Fox News host has been under fire for the past several weeks over his use of private chats on the Signal app to discuss attack plans on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, as well as his manic efforts to find leakers at the Department of Defense.
The “Signalgate” scandal has dogged Hegseth as worse revelations have come out every day, from the fact that journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was present in one of the group chats to the fact that a second chat contained Hegseth’s brother and wife. Hegseth has refused to resign and still has the support of the president for the time being. The question is whether Trump will eventually get fed up with the negative coverage, or if there’s a new worse revelation about Hegseth on the horizon.
The post Trump Refuses to Answer One Telling Question on Pete Hegseth appeared first on New Republic.
