A recently departed top Pentagon aide goaded President Donald Trump to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from his Cabinet, describing “total chaos” and “dysfunction” within the top brass of the military.
“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership,” John Ullyot, a former senior communications official for the Pentagon, wrote in an op-ed for Politico published on Sunday.
“Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
Ullyot departed the Pentagon’s public affairs office last week because he did not want to be second-in-command to chief spokesperson Sean Parnell.
AXED PENTAGON AIDES CLAIM THEIR CHARACTER WAS ‘SLANDERED,’ LITTLE DETAILS WERE SHARED ABOUT LEAK INVESTIGATION
Top Pentagon aide John Ullyot goaded President Donald Trump to remove Sec. Pete Hegseth from his Cabinet, describing “total chaos” and “dysfunction” within the top brass of the military (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Pentagon fired three Hegseth aides – Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick – three of the secretary’s “most loyal” advisers, according to Ullyot. He called the purge “strange” and “baffling.”
Following them out the door is chief of staff Joe Kasper, who the three men frequently found themselves at odds with, three defense officials confirmed to Fox News Digital.
“In short, the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.”
He called himself a “strong backer” of Hegseth, but admitted: “The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon – and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.”
The shake-ups came just as reports broke about a second Signal chat where Hegseth discussed plans to strike Houthis in Yemen, this one allegedly including his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
That chat reportedly discussed flight schedules for the…
