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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed a report from NPR claiming that President Donald Trump is seeking to replace Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of Defense.
The White House has been mired in controversy about its information security since The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, appeared to be accidentally added to a groupchat with several top Trump officials discussing an attack on the Houthis on Signal, a messaging app.
Now in April, a similar controversy erupted when Hegseth, according to the New York Times, reportedly shared details of a March military airstrike against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in another Signal message chat that included his wife and brother.
The White House denied that President Donald Trump seeks to replace Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, declaring instead that he firmly stands behind him in support. (Getty images)
NSA MIKE WALTZ TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR SIGNAL CHAT LEAK
NPR shared a report on Monday, claiming that amid these controversies, "The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly."
The report was quickly updated to note that Leavitt contested its accuracy.
"This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about," the White House spokeswoman wrote. "As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef."
Fox News Digital reached out to NPR for comment on Leavitt's post and did not receive an immediate reply.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, March 5, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
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The White House’s rapid response account shared a post slamming the report as well, claiming "Lies from NPR — which, as we all know, is a Fake News propaganda machine."
The Trump administration has urged Congress to pull federal funding for both NPR and PBS.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought drafted a memo this month asking lawmakers to slash $1.1 billion that was allotted to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), as well as $8.3 billion that was allotted to USAID.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
