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Secretary Pete Hegseth pulled senior Defense Department officials from the Aspen Security Conference for promoting the “evil of globalism.”
Military commanders were set to speak at the conference, which begins on Tuesday, as has been tradition through Republican and Democratic administrations.
But Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told Just the News the secretary’s office believes the conference “promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States.”
Wilson added that DoD “has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home.”
The forum will host other Trump administration officials: Adam Boehler, presidential envoy for hostage response, and Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Syria.
It will also hear from some contentious Biden administration officials – Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor, and Brett McGurk, a former National Security Council coordinator.
Mark Esper, Trump’s former acting defense secretary, and David Petraeus, who was briefly CIA director under President Barack Obama, will also be speaking, along with Condoleezza Rice, a national security advisor and secretary of state during the Bush years.
“Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“The Department will remain strong in its focus to increase the lethality of our warfighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project Peace Through Strength on the world stage. It is clear the ASF is not in alignment with these goals.”
The Aspen Institute said in a statement on the Pentagon withdrawal: “For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials – Republican and Democrat, civilian and military – as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security.”
“We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open.”
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