'I Had A Talk With Him': Inside President Trump's Secret Meeting With Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Following Mounting Scrutiny and Calls For Him To Be 'FIRED Immediately'
President Donald Trump is still on Pete Hegseth's side despite all the scrutiny against the defense secretary.
April 28 2025, Published 4:10 p.m. ET
When the chips are down, President Donald Trump's betting big on Pete Hegseth.
As the heat mounts over Hegseth's Pentagon leadership, Trump said he's confident the defense secretary will "get it together" after the two had a revealing sit-down, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
After having a meeting with the defense secretary, Trump said he's confident Hegseth will 'get it together.'
In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump, 78, was pressed about the chaos surrounding Hegseth – including recent claims he demanded a makeup room at the Pentagon for his TV touch-ups.
The president explained: "I think he’s gonna get it together. I had a talk with him, a positive talk, but I had a talk with him."
Plenty of people, including a Republican congressman, have already called for Hegseth to be fired.
After Trump's comment on Hegseth, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was put on the spot by a reporter who asked: "Does (Trump) think Hegseth doesn't 'have it together' right now?"
Leavitt responded: "The president has made his position on Secretary Hegseth quite clear.
"He absolutely has confidence in the secretary's ability to lead the Pentagon, it's why he nominated him for this position."
She added: "He's going to remain focused on standing up for our warfighters, on implementing President Trump's peace through strength foreign policy agenda abroad and the president supports him in his role."
Last week, Hegseth was mocked over claims he greenlit a surprise makeover for the full-on glam suite, which was said to have ended up costing several thousand dollars.
After the outlet released its report, the defense secretary shot back on X – calling it a "totally fake story" with "no 'orders' and no 'makeup.'"
But Hegseth has bigger fish to fry, as he's been in a neck-deep in scandal over his shady Signal chats and chaotic Pentagon leadership – with reports recently claiming he leaked secret military plans to a group chat with his wife, brother, and lawyer.
Trump has vocally backed up Hegseth, despite his dangerous Signal chat scandals this year.
And it wasn't the first time – he had already stirred outrage by sharing strike plans against the Houthis in Yemen with top Trump officials, after national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief to the chat.
While Hegseth has insisted no classified secrets were spilled, reports say the White House has already kicked off the search to replace him.
An anonymous U.S. official reportedly told NPR: "The White House has begun the process of looking for a new Secretary of Defense," though the person wasn't cleared to speak on the matter publicly.
Many people have already called for Hegseth to be fired, including Rep. Don Bacon – who was the first Republican in Congress to publicly back ousting him.
He said: "The military should always pride itself on operational security. If the reports are true, the Secretary of Defense has failed at operational security, and that is unacceptable.
"If a Democrat did this we'd be demanding a scalp. I don't like hypocrisy. We should be Americans first when it comes to security."
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) also renewed calls for Hegseth to be fired, saying: "He has shown a pattern of flagrant disregard for the rules and responsibilities entrusted to his office and made clear that he is unfit and unqualified to serve as our Secretary of Defense."
He added: "As he has previously stated himself: Any security professional 'would be fired on the spot for this type of conduct and criminally prosecuted for being so reckless with this kind of information.
"The Secretary of Defense is not above the law. He is not exempt from the standards every service member serving in the Department of Defense is held to.
"At minimum, Hegseth must resign immediately. If he refuses, President Trump must remove him without delay. Every day he remains in office is a threat to American national security."
Trump, however, has continuously backed up Hegseth, stating at the White House Easter Egg Roll earlier this month: "He's doing a great job. It's just fake news. They just bring up stories. I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees.
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Hegseth said he's not stepping down from his position and is 'grateful' for the president.
"He was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people and that's what he's doing so you don't always have friends when you do that."
The president further suggested: "Ask the Houthis how much disfunction there is. There's none. Pete's doing a great job. Everybody's happy with him."
Hegseth also said he's not stepping down, explaining: "I have not blinked and I won't blink, because this job is too big and too important for American people and I'm grateful for every opportunity president has given me."
