Far-right influencer blames Pentagon purge on Trump administration 'knife fight'

A far-right influencer theorizes that an internal "knife fight" behind the scenes in the Trump administration is responsible for a sudden purge of Pentagon staffers, The Daily Beast reported.

The confusion unfolding at the Defense Department has seen three aides to Secretary Pete Hegseth suspended as part of a supposed leak investigation — an ongoing problem for the Trump administration, which has had to deal with leaks from disgruntled officials throughout Trump's first term and has already seen the same pattern flaring up across the executive branch in a second term.

“Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, J.D. Vance, and Susie Wiles helped shut down Israel/USA joint attack on Iran -- NY Times,” wrote Douglass Mackey on X. "This probably explains why three of Hegseth's aides have now been fired for supposed 'leaks' -- internal knife fighting is intensifying."

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Mackey previously posted extremist content under the alias "Ricky Vaughn." He served a brief prison sentence in 2023 over a scheme in 2016 where he tried to trick Black voters out of casting ballots in the presidential election.

"The Times wrote that Israel’s plans for an imminent attack on Iran’s nuclear sites were 'waved off' by Trump in favor of more talks after months of internal debate over the best way to tackle the issue," noted The Beast's David Gardner. "The discussions highlighted 'fault lines' between 'hawkish' Trump Cabinet officials and aides skeptical that military action would avoid a larger conflict."

Other leak investigations have been launched throughout the Trump administration to try to crack down on these sorts of stories from emerging in the press. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for example, vowed criminal prosecution for leakers and forced officials within the department to submit to polygraphs.