Hegseth's overly optimistic claims mislead Trump on Iran, WP reports
Donald Trump, US President (photo: Getty Images)
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth makes overly optimistic statements about the war in Iran that mislead both the public and US President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reports.
Trump continues to call the war against Iran an unquestionable success, stating on Monday, April 6, that the US is acting "unbelievably well." At the same time, Hegseth noted that Tehran had been "embarrassed and humiliated" by US forces.
Doubts after F-15E downing
However, Iran's downing of an F-15E fighter jet and the risky rescue operation that followed demonstrated that Tehran retains the ability to threaten the US military.
In addition, US officials and analysts questioned Hegseth's statistics, in which he boasted of "complete control over Iranian skies."
The chaotic, though successful, rescue operation increased concerns within the Trump administration that the Pentagon chief's messaging about the war is overly optimistic and may mislead both the public and the US president.
"Pete is not speaking truth to the president. As a result, the president is out there repeating misleading information," one administration official said.
Although Hegseth for several weeks claimed that Iran has "no air defenses" and could do "nothing" against US air attacks, Trump still acknowledged that the F-15E was shot down by a portable "heat-seeking missile" system.
"He got lucky. It was a lucky hit," the US president said.
Pentagon and White House deny everything
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the close attention to Hegseth's public statements "lies and propaganda." According to him, he provided Trump with "decisive military options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives."
At the same time, White House press secretary Anna Kelly rejected any claims that Hegseth misled the president and said that Trump always knew that the Iranians would fire back.
"He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any possible contingency," she stressed.
Recently, the Pentagon reported the destruction of 90% of Iran's missile potential, as well as the elimination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the US operation Epic Fury. However, the scale of Iran's retaliatory strikes caught the US side off guard.
During the US operation against Iran, US forces have already lost at least seven aircraft. The latest was an F-15 shot down over Iran and an A-10 that was damaged by air defense fire during the rescue of the fighter jet crew.
