Pete Hegseth boasted about bringing Christmas “back to the Pentagon” on Wednesday, amid reports that his own tenure in the building could be at risk.
The Secretary of Defense presided over a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the Pentagon quad, where he was joined by his wife, Jennifer, and their four children. The festive event featured service members dressed as elves rappelling down the walls of the building and Santa Claus greeting onlookers from a big armored truck.
The celebration came just hours after the publication of reportedly damning inspector general findings regarding one of the embattled Trump official’s earlier scandals: his use of an unencrypted Signal chat to make battle plans in March.
According to the report, which was obtained by CNN, Hegseth, 45, risked endangering U.S. troops by sharing plans for a strike on Yemen in a group chat, which a journalist had been inadvertently added to.
Hegseth’s use of his personal phone for work matters also violated Pentagon policies, according to the report, which noted that senior officials in the Pentagon needed to be retrained on proper protocols.
Hegseth refused an interview with investigators and instead provided written answers to their questions, according to reports.
Hegseth has long denied that any classified information was shared in the leaked Signal chat, even though it included precise launch times for fighter jets and estimated strike times. Following news of the report, the Pentagon seemed to double down on its nothing-to-see-here take on the matter.
“The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along—no classified information was shared,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast. “This matter is resolved, and the case is closed.”
Parnell later tweeted the same statement, which Hegseth ran with, writing on X: “No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission.”
The former Fox News host then took a page out of his boss’ book by ending his tweet with “Thank you for your attention to this IG report.”
No classified information.
Total exoneration.
Case closed.
Houthis bombed into submission.
Thank you for your attention to this IG report. https://t.co/eQPO5iPIRc— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 3, 2025
While the controversy surrounding Signalgate has largely died down in the eight months since it happened, Hegseth has continued to keep his name in the headlines. The self-styled “Secretary of War” is currently in hot water over a separate incident that occurred in September.
Hegseth is fighting off allegations that he committed a war crime for allegedly calling for all passengers on board a supposed Venezuelan “narco-terrorist” boat in the Caribbean to be killed. After the initial strike on Sept. 2 left two survivors, a second strike was ordered to “kill them all.”
Hegseth on Monday was widely seen as attempting to distance himself from Navy Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander of the operation—a move which has reportedly caused irritation among some Defense Department and White House sources. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, 79, has tried to publicly shield Hegseth from criticism—sort of.
When asked about the Defense secretary’s actions while traveling back to the White House aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump stated that he has “great confidence” in Hegseth. However, the president also clarified that he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike on the boat.
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