The Pete Hegseth Red Herring and the GOP's Foreign Policy Civil War

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth finds himself under fire again -- this time from political skeptics or foes across the political spectrum. But just as the case was during the recent presidential transition period, when Trump opponents resuscitated the discredited 2018 Brett Kavanaugh/Christine Blasey Ford playbook in an attempt to derail Hegseth's nomination, the stakes now are much higher than Hegseth's job security helming the Pentagon.

When he was up for the nomination, Democrats and their corporate media allies went all in in an attempt to destroy Hegseth. Like the anti-Kavanaugh campaign in September 2018, when the then-pending Supreme Court nominee was accused of everything from sexual assault to gang rape, the recent anti-Hegseth operation accused the two-time Bronze Star-decorated veteran of recurring alcoholism, having a ruinous Bill Clinton-esque libido, and yes, rape. But the concerted effort to sink Hegseth's nomination was not actually about Hegseth: It was an attempt to chum the waters, demonstrate Trumpian vulnerability and sabotage the incoming administration before it even took office. Thankfully, the cynical effort failed. And military recruitment, perhaps Hegseth's single most important Day One priority, has already greatly benefited.

Fast-forward a bit. Hegseth was one of the main Trump administration officials caught in the crosshairs of last month's "Signalgate" group chat controversy, which saw sensitive military information about the United States' attack plans on the Yemen-based Houthi terrorists inexplicably delivered to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. The contents of the leaked chat revealed a Trump administration that is internally divided on matters of foreign policy -- in particular as it pertains to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional proxies, such as the Houthis. Iran doves and anti-Israel provocateurs tendentiously seized the opportunity to attempt to excise a convenient "neocon" scalp -- whether that be Hegseth or national security adviser Michael Waltz. But both Hegseth and Waltz kept their jobs.

Since "Signalgate," there have been two additional Hegseth-related developments. Last Sunday, The New York Times reported that Hegseth had shared sensitive information about the Houthi attack plans in a second group chat that included his wife and brother, among others. Hegseth admitted to this second chat's existence but claimed no harm was done. Around the same time, three high-ranking Department of Defense officials -- Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick, longtime Hegseth friend and confidante Dan Caldwell, and the chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, Colin Carroll -- were first placed on leave, and then fired, amid an ongoing Pentagon leak investigation.

The cashiering of Caldwell is notable because of his longstanding relationship with Hegseth. The dismissal suggests that Hegseth is committed to leaving no stone unturned and is willing to go scorched earth on one-time allies, if need be, to regain operational control of his leak-addled Pentagon. But the reaction to the firings, and Caldwell's immediate conduct afterward, are highly telling. What the Pentagon firings aftermath reveals, in short, is the same thing last month's original leaked Signal chat revealed: a Trump administration deeply divided on issues of foreign policy, especially pertaining to Iran.

Caldwell, who spent his immediate pre-administration years working for various Koch-funded isolationist outfits, is an Iran dove. In the earliest days of the Biden administration, Caldwell even went so far as to praise Robert Malley -- Biden's execrable choice for special envoy to Iran, and previously the chief American negotiator for former President Barack Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Shortly after being fired from the Pentagon, Caldwell promptly went on the popular show of the nation's best-known Iran dove, Tucker Carlson -- a man who just referred to Iran hawks as "enemies" of the United States -- to tell his side of the story. Caldwell's narrative was pure victimhood: He argued that his Pentagon tenure threatened "established interests," and he dismissed leak accusations. Given that his old ally Hegseth fired him and is now recommending he be prosecuted, Caldwell's tale doesn't pass the laugh test.

But the entire saga is illuminating.

At a time when the liberal Times was yet again trying to get Hegseth fired, Carlson decided to use his platform to glorify an Iran dove Pentagon leaker, thus necessarily calling into question Hegseth's leadership. Truly, one must wonder why supposed allies of President Donald Trump would decide to capitalize on the Times' reporting and throw Hegseth under the bus at such a vulnerable moment. Shouldn't outside "allies" have followed the lead of Vice President JD Vance and Trump himself and defended Hegseth to the hilt? One of Carlson's lesser-known acolytes, the unctuous American Conservative Executive Director Curt Mills, said the quiet part out loud: "The reality is operational -- Hegseth is just not up to this."

The backdrop for all this high drama, adding yet another twist to this elaborate puzzle, is the administration's ongoing Iran nuclear negotiations, which are led by Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff. Those negotiations will resume this weekend in Oman. Witkoff is a billionaire real estate investor with no particular knowledge of the Middle East. In 2023, Witkoff sold his Park Lane Hotel in New York City to the Qatar Investment Authority for $623 million, and perhaps not coincidentally, in January he went on TV to praise Qatar for "doing God's work." In the Carlson/Caldwell interview, Caldwell referred to the generally clueless Witkoff as a "godsend," and Carlson hailed him an "instrument of peace." Carlson, notably, recently hosted the prime minister of Qatar and praised him for seeking to stop military action against Qatar's chief regional ally, Iran.

One starts to see what is really going on here.

The good news is that Trump himself is clear-eyed on matters pertaining to Iran. So too, it seems, is his secretary of defense. One must thus conclude that Hegseth's right-leaning detractors are simply frustrated that the president is not as pro-Iran as they are. That would explain why these Trump "allies" are teaming up with the Times in yet another attempt to destroy Hegseth.

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To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.