Pentagon Alarm Over Hegseth’s Culture Shift, CNN Reports Widespread Fear in the U.S. Defense Establishment

CNN reported that Hegseth has instilled a culture of suspicion and paranoia in the Pentagon • The defense secretary has fired more than 20 senior military officials • Hegseth pledged to bring about a fundamental change in the U.S. security system

Tomer Almagor, N12 Published: 10.06.26, 09:58 | Updated: 10.06.26, 18:15 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth | Photo: AP

In brief: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has brought about a major change in how the Pentagon has operated during his first year and a half in office. Hegseth’s office also withholds information from even senior military officials and demands frequent polygraph tests. The defense secretary has reshaped military leadership through dismissals, including senior security officials during the war. Sources who spoke with CNN describe a culture of fear of the defense secretary’s wrath.

When Pete Hegseth took office as U.S. defense secretary, he promised to fundamentally change the culture of the American security establishment and restore a “warrior culture.” In the year and a half since then, the Pentagon’s culture does appear to have changed. A detailed CNN report revealed that Hegseth’s office excludes senior military officials, frequently requires polygraph tests, instills fear across the different echelons of the Pentagon, and does not maintain clear work processes, all in the midst of a war with Iran.

“More than a year after he took office, the Pentagon still lacks clear internal work processes... because of tremendous paranoia,” a Pentagon source told CNN about Hegseth’s tenure. “Everything is examined on a case by case basis, because there is no delegation and no trust. And when there is no delegation or trust, policy decisions cannot be made.”

General Dan Caine and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Pentagon briefing | Photo: Reuters

According to the report, almost from the start of his tenure Hegseth suspected senior officials around him, both civilians and military personnel, and questioned their loyalty. Hegseth fired more than 20 senior officers during his tenure, removed a navy secretary with whom he had clashed, and intervened directly in promotions across all branches of the military, thereby reshaping the senior command echelon.

The dismissals and information exclusion have become central to Hegseth’s tenure, but sources told CNN that the phenomenon is not limited to the defense secretary’s office. The culture has also spread to other offices in the Pentagon and created an atmosphere of power struggles among some senior civilian officials.

“In everything we did, every day, we asked ourselves: ‘Will this keep the boss in office, or will it get him fired?’” a Pentagon source told the American network. In the U.S. security establishment, the prevailing view has taken hold that professional survival often depends on making as little noise as possible and avoiding drawing the attention of Hegseth and his people.

Ad Randy George, former U.S. Army chief of staff | Photo: AP

Hegseth’s unusual conduct also affected the campaign against Iran. As defense secretary, he kept senior military officials out of war planning, and as a result some members of the Joint Staff, the military’s nerve center for planning and advising the president and defense secretary, had very limited exposure to the Trump administration’s strategic thinking. This created difficulties for military planners, who suddenly had to deal with the logistics of moving American assets to the region, including aircraft carriers.

The most prominent incident reflecting Hegseth’s mistrust of the military establishment came in April, when he decided to fire Randy George, the U.S. Army chief of staff, in the middle of the war with Iran. George was dismissed in a brief phone call after a dispute with Hegseth over promotions and after requesting a conversation with him. Some of Hegseth’s skepticism toward the general stemmed from the fact that he had served as an aide to former defense secretary Lloyd Austin in the Biden administration.

A few weeks later came another shake-up that surprised Pentagon officials, in the form of the dismissal of Navy Secretary John Phelan. CNN reported that relations between Phelan and Hegseth had deteriorated in recent months for a range of reasons, from Hegseth’s frustration that Phelan was not advancing the administration’s priorities quickly enough, to suspicion over Phelan’s close ties with Trump.

Ad Trump with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth | Photo: Reuters, Reuters

Hegseth also clashed with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who is considered very close to Vice President J.D. Vance and also developed a direct relationship with President Trump. In the United States, it was reported that Hegseth viewed Driscoll’s connection to the White House as an attempt to bypass him.

“Sometimes leaders need to do bold things when they are in office, sometimes they need to take risks. The army tried to promote leaders who are willing to do that. The current situation has frozen that idea,” a source in the U.S. security establishment told CNN.

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