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Hegseth’s Inner Circle Crumbles — Top Aide Out In Pentagon Shakeup

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

Joe Kasper, former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, likely walked out of the Pentagon as a Department of Defense (DOD) employee for the last time Thursday as controversy over leaked classified information spiraled out of control. His exit follows bombshell revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive military plans — including airstrike details in Yemen — with unauthorized parties via Signal, an encrypted messaging app.

The scandal, now called “Signalgate,” has set off a series of investigations and toppled senior aides, including Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick and Senior Advisor Dan Caldwell. Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot called it a “full-blown meltdown,” and warned that Hegseth’s days could be numbered.

Even as the chaos grows, President Trump is standing by Hegseth — at least publicly. But the fallout is exposing serious cracks in the Pentagon’s leadership and raising alarms about operational security.

Kasper’s abrupt departure marks another blow during a brutal period of scrutiny. Although Hegseth told the hosts of “Fox & Friends” that his chief adviser would move to “a slightly different role” within the DOD, Kasper is officially gone — eyeing a return to government relations and consulting.

A senior official confirmed the news on Friday, according to a report by The Guardian:

“Secretary Hegseth is thankful for [Kasper’s] continued leadership and work to advance the America First agenda,” the official said in a statement, referring to Donald Trump’s protectionist policy push.

The quick exit comes after Kasper was implicated as the orchestrator of a power grab that led to the dismissal of three senior Pentagon officials – Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll – allegedly as part of a leak investigation.

The administration’s first hundred days created a troubled tenure for Kasper, with anonymous sources claiming he was frequently late to meetings, failed to follow through on critical tasks, and displayed inappropriate behavior, including berating officials and making crude comments allegedly about his bowel movements during high-level meetings.

“He lacked the focus and organizational skills needed to get things done,” one anonymous insider told Politico.

Other reports surfaced that the strip club aficionado shared inappropriate personal stories about exotic dancers during classified meetings — one of several reasons he became a liability. He’s now the fifth top aide to leave Hegseth’s circle in just a week.

Meanwhile, the broader Pentagon leadership is under fire for security breaches, including Hegseth’s use of an unsecured “dirty” internet line for Signal communications — a move that may have exposed critical data to foreign surveillance, according to NSA warnings.

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Special Envoy Steve Witkoff Accuses CNN’s Anonymous Sources of ‘Treason’

CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff accused several anonymous CNN sources of “treason” on Tuesday.

In an exclusive report from CNN, three sources briefed on intelligence of the operation claimed that the damage done to Iran’s nuclear program “likely only set it back by months” despite Trump’s claims to have “completely and totally obliterated” it by U.S. bombing.

“This leaked intel assessment, it’s an early look at what was actually accomplished on the ground,” said Fox News host Laura Ingraham during an interview with Witkoff. “But it was leaked. Somebody decided to leak this from the DIA and it’s being used in the media, and it’s all over today, that, ‘Aha, Trump said it obliterated, but it’s not obliterated. It’s set back months, but it’s not over.’”

Witkoff replied, “Well, it goes without saying that leaking that type of information, whatever the information, whatever site it comes out on, is outrageous. It’s treasonous. So it ought to be investigated, and whoever did it, whoever’s responsible for it should be held accountable.”

He concluded, “It could hurt lives in the future. This leaking is a completely unacceptable thing.”

CNN spoke to seven anonymous sources in total, who described the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) assessment of the Trump administration’s strikes. Two of the sources “said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed,” according to the CNN report, while “one of the people said the centrifuges are largely ‘intact.’”

“Another source said that the intelligence assessed enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes,” CNN reported.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth lashed out at CNN’s report, calling it “flat-out wrong.”

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” Leavitt said. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

While Leavitt tried to pin the leak on a single source, CNN — in its report — cited “three people briefed” on the U.S. intelligence assessment.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a separate statement, likewise claimed the sites were leveled in the blasts:

Based on everything we have seen and I’ve seen it all, our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons. Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran. So anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.

In a statement to Mediaite, a CNN spokesperson said, “CNN stands by our thorough reporting on an early intelligence assessment of the recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which has since been confirmed by other news organizations. The White House has acknowledged the existence of the assessment, and their statement is included in our story.”

Trump And Putin Agree To 30-Day Ceasefire

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Kremlin.ru, via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to a 30-day cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine, following an extensive phone conversation. This agreement is a preliminary step toward broader peace negotiations, although a comprehensive ceasefire has not yet been established.

During their three hour discussion, both leaders emphasized the importance of addressing the underlying causes of the conflict to achieve lasting peace. They agreed to initiate technical negotiations aimed at a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and to continue efforts toward a full cessation of hostilities.

Additionally, Russia and Ukraine have consented to exchange 175 prisoners each as part of confidence-building measures. While Ukraine has accepted the 30-day ceasefire proposal, Russia’s support is conditional, with President Putin expressing concerns about Ukraine potentially regrouping during the ceasefire and emphasizing the need for guarantees to prevent such actions

President Trump has indicated that further sanctions could be imposed on Russia if a comprehensive peace agreement is not reached, underscoring the urgency of the situation.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News

‘Vladimir, STOP!’ – Trump Blasts Putin Over Deadly Strikes On Kyiv

Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

In a dramatic public rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday morning to condemn Russia’s latest missile and drone assault on Kyiv, which killed at least nine people and injured more than 70.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump wrote. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”

The Hill has more:

The Trump administration has been pushing for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, but top officials have in recent days signaled they are prepared to walk away from negotiations if the two sides don’t reach a deal soon.

Fighting has been ongoing in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022 after amassing troops near the border.

Trump has vacillated between criticizing Russia for its continued assault on Ukraine and lashing out at Zelensky.

Trump’s comments came just hours after he slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for vowing that Ukraine would never recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea — a strategic peninsula that was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 and is home to more than 2 million people.

By President Of Ukraine – https://www.flickr.com/photos/165930373@N06/54169325552/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156221279

“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian territory,” Trump posted Wednesday. He added that such declarations from Kyiv “make it so difficult to settle this war.”

The White House recently announced that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will soon visit Moscow for a fourth round of negotiations with Putin, underlining ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Kremlin.ru, via Wikimedia Commons

Meanwhile, European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have squarely blamed Putin for prolonging the war, stating that Russia alone prevents peace. Macron emphasized that only Putin’s agreement could stop the violence, underscoring the international community’s call for a resolution.

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Trump Issues Blistering Response After Israel, Iran Violate Ceasefire Deal

Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

President Trump is not happy…

President Donald Trump expressed deep frustration with both Israel and Iran on Tuesday, saying the two countries “don’t know what the **** they’re doing.”

Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Monday night, dubbing the conflict a “12-day war.”

Trump made the comments while departing from the White House for a NATO summit Tuesday morning. Both Israel and Iran fired missiles at one another following the imposition of a ceasefire on Monday night.

“I’m not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay, now you have 12 hours, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning,” Trump said.

He continued, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting for so long and so hard that they don’t know what the **** they’re doing.” 

“I’m gonna see if I can stop it,” he added.

“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after boarding Marine One.

Minutes later, he announced that Israel was canceling its plans for an attack Tuesday morning.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during their joint press conference, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Leslie N. Emory)

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote.

He then topped it off with a post stating: “IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!”

A senior Israeli official told Fox News on Tuesday that Iran had launched two missiles toward Israel following the announcement of the ceasefire, “and we believe they are trying to fire more in the next couple of hours.”

“Unfortunately, the Iranians have decided to continue to fire toward Israel,” the official said to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst after Trump unveiled the deal Monday.

“Now we will have to retaliate, this will happen of course,” the official added. “It could end within several hours, but they [the Iranians] need to make a decision.” 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces carried out a small airstrike on Iranian radar equipment before backing down from further attacks. 

“At 7:06 a.m., Iran launched one missile toward Israeli territory, and at 10:25 a.m., two more missiles. The missiles were intercepted or landed in open areas without causing casualties or damage,” the office said. “In response to Iran’s violations, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a radar array near Tehran. Following President Trump’s conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel refrained from further strikes.” 

“In the call, President Trump expressed his deep appreciation for Israel — which achieved all the objectives of the war. He also expressed his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire,” the office added.