The Pentagon is falling apart from the inside — and one of its former top insiders just blew the whistle in a scathing op-ed.
John Ullyot, who served as the Pentagon’s chief spokesman until last week, lit up Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a blistering Op-Ed published Sunday in Politico, calling out “total chaos,” “baffling purges,” and a culture of dysfunction that he says is hurting both the Department of Defense and President Donald Trump.
“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon,” Ullyot wrote. “From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.”
The criticism is especially sharp coming from Ullyot, a longtime Trump loyalist who once praised Hegseth as the right man to lead the Pentagon. But now, after what he calls a “Month from Hell,” he says it’s “hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
Ullyot accuses Hegseth’s team of launching a campaign of anonymous smears against departing staffers, including top advisers Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick. The three officials were pushed out as part of an internal investigation into leaks. But according to Ullyot, the official story doesn’t hold water.
“Defense Department officials working for Hegseth tried to smear the aides anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation ordered earlier this month,” Ullyot wrote. “Yet none of this is true.”
He said the department publicly claimed polygraph tests would be used, but “not one of the three has been given a lie detector test.” In fact, Ullyot said at least one of the fired officials was told he would soon be officially cleared. Still, the damage was already done — reputations dragged through the mud with false, anonymous leaks.
Caldwell, Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who were also forced out, said in a joint statement: “We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended.” They added, “Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.”
“Hegseth is now presiding over a strange and baffling purge that will leave him without his two closest advisers of over a decade,” Ullyot wrote. “More firings may be coming, according to rumors in the building.”
“In short, the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” he said.
It’s not just the firings and leaks that have raised alarms. Ullyot mentioned SignalGate — a scandal involving Hegseth using the encrypted app Signal to discuss sensitive military planning, reportedly even sharing war plans with members of his family. And that might just be the tip of the iceberg.
“There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately,” Ullyot warned.
While Ullyot made clear he still supports President Trump, he believes this chaos at the Pentagon is damaging — and the blame, he says, lies with Hegseth.
“The president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon,” Ullyot wrote. “Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump chooses to do the same in short order at the top of the Defense Department.”
