Pete Hegseth is crumbling under the pressure of leading the Pentagon.
The defense secretary—who prefers the moniker “Secretary of War”—is being described by staffers as “manic,” erupting into fits of rage and tumultuous tirades, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.
While he has reportedly always been temperamental, two staffers claim the former Fox News star’s mental state has reached new, frenzied heights after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month.
They said Hegseth is becoming increasingly “obsessed” with his own security and exhibits frantic behavior, such as fidgeting and pacing during meetings.
“There’s a manic quality about him. Or let me rephrase, an even more manic quality, which is really saying something,” an insider told the outlet.
“Dude is crawling out of his skin,” another source said.
The sources cited Hegseth’s increasingly erratic demands that have played out in public—most notably his recent order that every military official above the rank of one-star general fly in for a meeting in Virginia on Tuesday, even if stationed abroad.
The gathering is being described as a “pep rally,” where Hegseth will address military standards and the so-called “warrior ethos,” multiple people familiar with the planned event told The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, Hegseth has introduced sweeping new guidelines restricting press access at his rebranded “Department of War.” According to the Mail, reporters now require express approval from the department to publish any information gathered at the Pentagon, and are forbidden from accessing most of the building without an escort.
Journalists must also sign compliance forms pledging to protect “sensitive information” and will lose their credentials if they violate the new rules.
When the crackdown was first announced, the Pentagon Press Association issued a blistering statement calling it “a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America’s right to know what its military is doing.”
Hegseth, 45, responded on X:
“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon—the people do,” he began. “The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules—or go home.”
Also under scrutiny are Hegseth’s extensive personal security demands, which, according to the paper, are now straining the Army agency responsible for protecting him. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has reportedly pulled agents away from criminal probes in order to safeguard Hegseth’s residences in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
Sources told the Mail that those security measures have, in part, been driven by Hegseth’s wife, former Fox News producer Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, whose requests for protection go “far beyond” what’s been granted to other Trump administration officials.
“That warrior persona, he’s spooked,” they said.
When approached for comment, the Pentagon directed the Daily Beast to a statement spokesman Sean Parnell wrote to the Daily Mail: ”[We] receive all kinds [of] outrageous and untrue requests, but this might be the stupidest request we have received to date. You may be the least informed ‘journalist’ to ever report on the Pentagon. Your entire story is completely false.”
Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, also slammed the Mail story in an email to the Daily Beast. “The Daily Mail published a fictional essay that fails to meet any journalistic standards,” it reads. “The article contains publicly debunked claims, ‘sources’ that are fabricated, and a refusal to publish the statement provided by the Department spokesperson. Daily Mail should investigate and suspend the writer.”
