U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth react during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Political analysts and observers were aghast on Monday after a new report revealed that President Donald Trump's Defense Secretary has reached a new "height of criminality."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's stockbroker looked into purchasing a defense-related fund ahead of the Trump administration launching its self-described "excursion" in Iran, the Financial Times reported, citing "three people familiar with the matter."
"Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in the asset manager’s Defense Industrials Active ETF, the people said, shortly before the U.S. launched military action against Tehran," the report reads in part.
"The investment discussed by Hegseth’s broker did not ultimately go ahead as the fund, which launched in May last year, was not yet available for Morgan Stanley clients to buy," it added. "Although ETFs are designed to be bought and sold as easily as a stock, their proliferation has meant that most big brokerage and trading platforms only carry a subset of the over 14,000 ETFs in existence. It is not known whether Hegseth’s broker subsequently found an alternative defense-focused fund to make the investment."
Sean Parnell, a spokesperson for Hegseth, posted on X that the report was "entirely false and fabricated."
Political analysts and observers shared their reactions on social media.
"Pete Hegseth tried to make a LOSING insider trade on his advance knowledge of Trump's Iran war plans, which he advised to start," Grant Stern, managing editor of Occupy Democrats, posted on X. "This is the height of criminality and incompetence."
"Truly shocking for the Secretary of Defense to trade f------ stocks and (attempt to) profit off of a war he helped start," Tommy Vietor, co-host of "Pod Save America," posted on X. "Firing this drunk idiot is the bare minimum. @PeteHegseth should be prosecuted."
"Criminals. All of them," law professor David S. Cohen posted on Bluesky.
"Troops, please join us in prayer with Secretary Hegseth: May his suspiciously well-timed investments in military contractors pay boundless dividends," Don Moynihan, policy professor at the University of Michigan, posted on Bluesky.