Hegseth's chief of staff joins Pentagon exodus

What happened

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's chief of staff, Joe Kasper, stepped down Thursday. With his departure and the firing of three top Hegseth aides over leak accusations they deny, Hegseth's "circle of top advisers" has "shrunk in recent days to little more than his wife, lawyer and two lower-level officials," Politico said, leaving the inexperienced "first-time government official without trusted staff who understand Washington — just as he faces fallout from a series of scandals that have led to rampant speculation" about his standing with President Donald Trump.

Who said what

Defense officials describe Hegseth as "paranoid and increasingly isolated," The Washington Post said. He is leaning on a few trusted advisers and has become "keenly focused on daily news coverage dissecting his missteps and decision-making." His staff is "focused on building an aura around Hegseth by pushing out videos of his memo signings and early morning workouts," Politico said, potentially delaying "less photo-worthy" tasks like finishing the Pentagon's expected $1 trillion budget.

Hegseth "sees his videos and social-media posts" as "appealing to the current force and the MAGA base," but he's also "increasingly concerned about how Trump is perceiving the situation and the possibility of being fired," The Wall Street Journal said. The series of leaks — about a planned classified Chinese war briefing for Elon Musk, his wife's attendance at sensitive meetings and his sharing of secret Yemen attack plans in two unsecured Signal groups chats — have left Hegseth "rattled."

Publicly, Hegseth has come out swinging, blaming "disgruntled" former officials for the leaks and insisting he did not share classified information in the Signal chats. But "additional revelations have continued to emerge," the Post said. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Hegseth had an unsecured, or "dirty," internet line installed in his Pentagon office so he could use Signal on a second computer, raising the possibility that "sensitive defense information could have been put at risk of potential hacking or surveillance."

What next?

Trump has "indicated he will stand by the defense chief," the Journal said, but he has also "begun to ask people around him about Hegseth's performance, and his advisers have closely watched his recent media appearances."