Pentagon officials fumed on Wednesday after The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's "unusually large" security requirements are straining the agency.
The Post investigation found that Hegseth relies on an "unusually large" and expensive personal security detail, which significantly strained the U.S. Army agency responsible for his protection. The operation has required the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, to reassign agents away from core criminal investigations to provide security for him and monitor his homes in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
The operation costs millions of dollars, with the article estimating the number of agents assigned to senior defense officials has grown from around 150 to as high as 400 to 500.
Since its publication, Trump administration officials have blasted the newspaper and reporter Dan Lamothe, who wrote the story.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fox News Digital they tried to persuade the Post to remove "sensitive" security details about the security of Hegseth's wife, children, and extended family, citing "obvious security concerns and the potential for threats to increase after its publication."
"There is no justification for the Washington Post to publish this information about them," she said.
Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, railed, "When left-wing blogs like the Washington Post continue to dox cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements, it puts lives at risk."
"In the wake of two assassination attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1,000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it's astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week," Parnell wrote on X.
"How do these reporters sleep at night? @PeteHegseth is not only the Secretary of Defense but a father. This article, in addition to being false, puts him and all of his children at risk," Department of Defense assistant press secretary Riley Podleski wrote on X.
Fellow Department of Defense assistant press secretary Jacob Bliss, meanwhile, wrote, "The scum at the Washington Post published details about @SecDef’s security in the name of ‘journalism.’ They aren’t holding anyone accountable — they’re putting numerous lives and families at risk."