'Slow drip' of stories threatens doom for Trump defense chief: ex-Bush official
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives for a Senate briefing. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
September 01, 2026
A former White House staffer teased growing tensions inside President Donald Trump's administration over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation directly to the president after clashing repeatedly with the Pentagon chief, and former George W. Bush staffer Ashley Davis told "CNN This Morning" that Trump officials were likely concerned about the dynamic inside the Defense Department.
"Well, I'm just watching this slow drip of Pete Hegseth stories," Davis said. "So whether it's – I have met the secretary of the Army and he's a great guy. He's very close with JD Vance. I think that he had a lot of integrity, and, you know, supposedly he did brief the president before resigning and why he resigned, but – which is very unusual for someone to go around the chain of command to do that."
Driscoll, who had been seen as a potential replacement for Hegseth, reportedly stepped down due to frustrations over the defense secretary pushing out other military leaders, including Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Davis said that was noteworthy.
"It's significant criticism ofthe secretary, but also thedrip, drip, drip of Hegsethtalking about running forpresident is also probably notsitting well with thisadministration," she said. "Yeah. Well, and he'ssupposedly there's insidesources that say that he wantsto run for president."