FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's latest remarks about the war in Iran paint an "unsettling" picture of his leadership, according to one expert.
On Wednesday, Hegseth was asked during a press briefing about an Iranian drone that struck the U.S. embassy in Kuwait, killing six Americans over the weekend. Hegseth dismissed the question by saying "tragic things happen" before launching into a tirade about how the "fake news" media covers the Trump administration.
Hegseth's response was "unsettling" because someone in his position is expected to "carry this news to the American public and mourn with them," Tom Nichols, professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and a staff writer for The Atlantic, wrote in a new article on Wednesday.
Instead, Hegseth showed that he is more concerned with "drama-laden antics," Nichols argued. That shows the Defense secretary is "unable to grasp that the deaths of Americans are not merely a public-relations problem," he added.
Nichols also noted that Hegseth's remarks seemed to horrify his own staff.
"My colleague Nancy Youssef was at the Pentagon this morning, sitting just three rows from the podium," Nichols wrote. "I asked her what the atmosphere was like after Hegseth’s heartless remark. She told me that his comments 'sent a stunned silence through the briefing room.'"
"Even members of Hegseth’s staff, she said, seemed to flinch at what he was saying. 'Some put their heads down,' she said, while others just looked around. Someone in the room then said: 'That was one of the most insulting things I have ever heard,' quietly but audibly and, as far as Nancy could tell, to no one in particular," he added.