Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is proving to be a rising star in the Trump administration as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth struggles to move past his first-year missteps.
Driscoll landed in Kyiv this week, where he is playing a leading role in relaunched talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Secretary Driscoll is one of the highest-ranking U.S. government officials in the Trump administration to visit Ukraine to date and met face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.
There, he presented the 28-point peace plan members of the Trump administration have been quietly working on to end the war. Washington is pressuring Ukraine to agree the deal by Thanksgiving.
Zelensky said on Friday that the country is facing a “very difficult choice” between the “loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner” but vowed to propose its own alternatives as it looks for peace.
Driscoll‘s front and center role this week was a sharp contrast with Hegseth, who has not traveled to Ukraine.
The former Fox News personality turned defense secretary instead attended meetings in Washington this week, including joining other Cabinet members at the White House for the visit by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Hegseth has also been firing off a series of social media posts, including at Democrats, while facing ridicule online for revealing the chosen names of operations like “Midnight Hammer,” “Rough Rider,” and “Southern Spear.”
Some of Hegseth’s more prominent appearances have focused on bemoaning facial hair in the military, declaring the end of “wokeness,” or working out with the troops after he has been plagued with a series of scandals and leaks, including sharing strike information earlier this year in a Signal group chat.
Last week, he shared a video of himself helping to hang the “Department of War” sign outside the Pentagon and declared they were “deadly serious” about the name change.
Meanwhile, Driscoll participated in a couple of high-profile interviews in the days before traveling overseas for his sit-down with top Ukrainian officials.
The Army secretary’s growing prominence in the Pentagon and administration overall has President Donald Trump’s blessing, according to a report from Politico.
“There’s not a lot of trust in Hegseth to deliver these messages to key leaders,” a person familiar with the dynamics told the publication. “There is more trust in Dan to do that right now.”
Driscoll happens to be a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, with whom he went to Yale Law School. He also served in the Army for three and a half years, deploying to Iraq.
In April, Driscoll also took over serving as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Driscoll has been one of the most impressive members of Trump’s administration since his confirmation,” another person close to the White House told Politico. “While he didn’t have many relationships in the Trump orbit outside of the vice president prior to his nomination, he has built strong relationships inside the West Wing over the past year and is well-liked by senior staff.”
The White House has repeatedly denied that Hegseth’s position was at risk throughout the turmoil of his first year, but according to the report, there has been friction with the White House.
A person familiar with it said that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles “doesn’t distrust Pete” but she “questions his judgment.” The person specifically named Hegseth tapping Ricky Buria as his chief of staff.
The Daily Beast asked the White House for comment.
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