White House Denies Report on Defense Secretary Replacement

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has denied a report claiming that the administration has begun searching for a replacement for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, calling it “completely fake news.”

In remarks reported by CNN, Leavitt stated, "This story published by NPR is entirely false and is based on an anonymous source who clearly doesn't know what they're talking about."

She added, “As the President said this morning, he strongly supports the Secretary of Defense.”

It is worth mentioning that, NPR had reported earlier that the White House had initiated the search for a new defense secretary, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

This came amid separate reports of controversy involving Hegseth’s participation in a group chat on the Signal app.

Moreover, CNN noted that Hegseth allegedly shared detailed plans regarding a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen within that group chat, which reportedly included his attorney and brother.