White House dismisses report of replacing US defense chief Hegseth

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The White House on Monday rejected a report that the Trump administration is considering replacing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

"FAKE NEWS," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt slammed the NPR News report that claimed the administration is looking for a new defense chief.

"This ⁦NPR⁩ story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about," she wrote on X.

Leavitt also noted that "as the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind the Secretary of Defense."

Calls for Hegseth's resignation come after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, revealed last month that he was inadvertently included in a messaging group where US Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Hegseth, and other senior officials discussed plans for an attack on Houthi targets in Yemen hours before it occurred on March 15.

Several Democrats, including Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the resignation of senior officials.