'Pete not speaking truth to the president': US official says Hegseth is misleading Trump

As the West Asia conflict continues to rage on, a senior Trump administration official told The Washington Post that not all is well between US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

Doubt over Hegseth's claims of "complete control of Iranian skies" and "uncontested space" was cast when Iran downed an F-15E fighter jet, following which a high-risk operation ensued, which showed that Iran can threaten the US military personnel.

After the event, there were murmurs inside the Trump administration that Hegseth's messaging about the war is way too optimistic and risks misinforming not only the public but also the president.

The official claimed that Hegseth is not presenting the true picture to Trump. “Pete is not speaking truth to the president,” one administration official said.

The official added, “As a result, the president is out there repeating misleading information.”

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As per Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, Hegseth has stated three objectives in front of Trump: destroy Iran’s missile arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. 

Some bones of contention include Pete Hegseth's claim that the US has "overwhelmingly destroyed" Iran's missile and drone programs. The reality, however, is that more than half of Iran's missile launchers and thousands of one-way attack drones are still intact. 

Besides this, Hegseth also claimed for a long time that Iran has "no air defences" and could do "nothing" about US air strikes. Trump, however, did confirm during a White House news conference that a shoulder-fired "heat-seeking missile" downed the F-15 that left 2 American airmen temporarily stranded deep inside Iranian territory. 

“He got lucky. It was a lucky hit,” Trump said.

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Kelly Grierco, a military analyst at Stimson Centre, said that instances like the F-15 downing take place "when you have air superiority but don't have air supremacy." 

“Our air superiority is limited geographically to the west and to the south, but also in terms of altitude,” she said, adding that US planes probably have been flying above 15,000 or even 30,000 feet to avoid the type of shoulder-fired rockets that hit the F-15. 

Furthermore, Hegseth told reporters on March 31 that Iran's missile and drone launches fell to a lower level than any other 24-hour period since the war began, as "relentless" US and Israeli strikes were degrading Iran's ability to sustain attacks. 

According to officials, Hegseth's claim was incorrect, and the lower 24-hour periods actually took place on March 14, 15, and 22. "Documents sent around internally contradict Hegseth’s claims,” one official said.

An official said that Hegseth's focus on launch volume is dumb, even if his numbers were nearly accurate. 

“If you judge Iran’s strength or weakness based on their launch numbers, that is a dumb metric. What is their objective? Are they achieving that? That’s what matters."