Trump mulls Hegseth pardon as insiders suspect he'd take fall for war plans mess: report

The fallout from the explosive scandal of high-ranking military and intelligence officials in the Trump administration leaking highly classified war plans to a reporter in an unsecured Signal group chat continues to spread — but President Donald Trump is firmly standing behind National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, saying that he "learned his lesson."

But Trump seems more keen to defend Waltz than he does Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to onlookers.

"Why is everyone in MAGA going after Waltz when it was @PeteHegseth@SecDef that sent all the classified stuff?" posted former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a longtime conservative critic of the president.

In fact, some sources and Trump insiders say there might be a very good reason for that, which is that Trumpworld and the GOP at large would rather, if worst comes to worst, Hegseth be set up to take the fall while Waltz escapes unblemished.

"A Trump ally told me that the discussion right now is over whether Pete Hegseth will need a pardon ... not Waltz, even if he becomes the fall guy," wrote investigative political reporter Tara Palmeri.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a communications leader in the first Trump administration who has become an outspoken critic of the president, has a similar take on the matter.

"A dynamic here: Mike Waltz is seen as a serious, qualified actor by folks in Washington who don’t support Trump, including on Capitol Hill. Most would see his ouster as a loss for natsec in this WH, as opposed to Hegseth, whose departure would be warmly welcomed," wrote Griffin.

The issue, she continued, is that "despite this egregious screw up, Waltz, a decorated Green Beret, who was a senior advisor in the Pentagon during GWB’s administration, is respected across the aisle on Capitol Hill. Not the case, to state the obvious, with Hegseth."