John Ullyot, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson under President Donald Trump, has resigned after facing intense backlash over the controversial removal of Jackie Robinson’s biography from the Department of Defense website.
Ullyot, 56, had been at the center of the uproar when the Pentagon scrapped a tribute to Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. The decision sparked widespread outrage, especially after Ullyot’s defense of the move, leading to his eventual resignation.
“I made clear to Secretary [Pete] Hegseth before the inauguration that I was not interested in being number two to anyone in public affairs,” Ullyot said in a statement. “Last month, as that time approached, the Secretary and I talked and could not come to an agreement on another good fit for me at DOD. So I informed him today that I will be leaving at the end of this week.”
Ullyot’s resignation follows a series of controversies during his brief tenure as the Pentagon’s acting press secretary. He had been a strong proponent of the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content from government platforms. His actions became particularly contentious after the Pentagon removed a webpage honoring Robinson, a baseball icon and Army veteran who broke Major League Baseball’s racial barrier in 1947.
When asked about the decision, Ullyot made headlines by declaring that “DEI is dead at the Defense Department.” His comments drew sharp criticism, leading him to issue a clarification in which he acknowledged the Pentagon’s admiration for Robinson and other historical figures like the Navajo Code Talkers. However, his attempt to repair his image did little to quell the storm of backlash.
“Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others – we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop,” Ullyot said in his revised statement. “We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission.”
Ullyot’s resignation also comes amidst a larger crisis at the Pentagon, which has been rocked by multiple scandals. Three senior Pentagon officials were placed on administrative leave in connection with a press leak investigation, and the fallout from the “Signalgate” debacle, where top officials mistakenly added a journalist to a secure military planning chat, continues to strain the department’s credibility.
During his time in the Pentagon’s communications team, Ullyot, a Marine Corps veteran, was also responsible for a controversial shake-up of the Pentagon’s press operations. Well-established news outlets like The New York Times and NPR lost their designated workspaces, while right-wing outlets such as Breitbart and One America News Network gained preferential treatment.
Ullyot’s resignation marks the end of a polarizing period at the Pentagon, where his hardline stance on DEI issues and the mishandling of key media relationships have overshadowed his career. His departure comes at a particularly turbulent time for the Department of Defense, which is still grappling with the fallout from multiple internal and external controversies.
