MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace questioned Pete Hegseth’s capability of doing his job during her show on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, calling the current situation “sloppy and haphazard” and wondering aloud how much more embarrassment President Donald Trump would tolerate from his Defense Secretary.
Wallace’s comments on “Deadline: White House” came amid mounting controversies surrounding Hegseth, including a Caribbean boat strike incident that has sparked war crimes concerns and an ongoing Pentagon Inspector General review into his use of the Signal messaging app.
“Pete Hegseth at Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting seemed to endeavor to further embarrass himself,” Wallace stated, noting concerns about his statements regarding the boat strike incidents.
The controversy centers on a September 2, 2025 military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea. According to multiple reports, Hegseth allegedly gave a verbal order to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel. When at least two survivors remained after the initial strike, a second strike was ordered that killed them while they were clinging to wreckage in the water.
Wallace noted the glaring contradiction in Hegseth’s accounts. He initially told Fox News on September 2 that “I watched it live. We knew exactly who was in that boat, we knew exactly what they were doing.” However, during a Cabinet meeting on December 2, Hegseth claimed he “didn’t stick around” after the first strike and had moved on to his next meeting, distancing himself from responsibility for the second strike.
The Trump administration has conducted at least 22 boat strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since September, killing a minimum of 83 people in operations against alleged narco-terrorists.
The host then addressed what she termed “Signalgate,” referencing the Pentagon’s investigation into Hegseth’s communication practices. Wallace described it as a massive national security breach that was “made possible entirely by the sloppy and haphazard nature of Donald Trump’s national security team when they shared national security information, including war plans.”
Hegseth shared information about a pending military operation in Yemen that took place in March through Signal, a commercial messaging app. “That report says that Pete Hegseth shared information in that Signal chat. Information—that put mission operations and servicemen and women at risk—about a pending military operation in Yemen that took place in March of this year,” Wallace explained.
The Inspector General’s report, released December 3, found that while the mission ultimately was not jeopardized, Pete Hegseth violated his department’s own policies when he used Signal, a commercial messaging app that is not approved for sharing classified information.
In the messages, Hegseth provided details about targets, timing, and aircraft to at least two separate Signal groups. One chat included senior Trump officials and, accidentally, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. A second chat included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
Wallace criticized what she characterized as inconsistent responses to Hegseth’s violations. She argued that it is important to remember that if anyone other than Pete Hegseth — such as any of the men and women farther down the chain of command — had done this, they would be thrown out of the military and almost certainly face criminal prosecution, “maybe even worse.”
Despite the Inspector General’s findings, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the report a “total exoneration” of Hegseth—a characterization that Wallace and other critics have disputed.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host who co-hosted “Fox & Friends Weekend” from 2017 to 2024, barely survived a contentious Senate confirmation in January 2025. He was confirmed only after Vice President JD Vance cast a rare tie-breaking vote. The Army National Guard combat veteran faced intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations during confirmation hearings.
Wallace further blasted the scandals as “an embarrassment not only for the nation that the military serves, [but] for the men and women in it, and for its commander-in-chief, frankly, Donald Trump.”
The host concluded her segment by questioning Trump’s threshold for continued controversy. “And it calls into question just how much more embarrassment Donald Trump is going to tolerate from his handpicked, bipartisanly opposed Secretary of Defense,” Wallace added.
The White House has stood by Hegseth despite mounting controversies. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that “President Trump stands by Secretary Hegseth.”
Congressional investigations into both the boat strikes and Signal communications are ongoing, with lawmakers from both parties demanding full transparency and accountability.
“Deadline: White House” airs weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on MS NOW, where Wallace regularly provides political analysis and commentary on current events.
