Trump needs a fall guy in Iran, and Pete Hegseth has definitely earned it

As the fallout from the Iran war and the apparent cease-fire continues, President Trump is probably wondering how to get the heat off his back. It seems that the talking points aren’t sticking with voters and even worse, his own supporters.

Trump has made a whole career out of survival, even at the expense of those who have supported him the most. As he enters what might be the toughest test yet of his political reputation, he might have to throw another loyalist under the bus for the fiasco in Iran.

Whether this cease-fire holds and leads to lasting peace or collapses, the U.S. needs to do a self-assessment of what went wrong with Iran and who got us to the point of being wrong. Trump seemed to be sold on the idea that Iran would capitulate when their leader was killed. We know that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sold him on this idea in the Situation Room. We also know that plenty of Trump Cabinet members and advisors pushed back on Netanyahu’s claims, the most vocal of which were Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

But one person was enthusiastic and pushed for Trump to act — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His tenure has seen its fair share of lows and even-lower lows. All the while, he has been blustering to the press and more importantly to the president about how great things have been going. And it has worked. Trump famously doesn’t like the details or the aftermath. He just wants stuff to get done, no matter what.

That is why, when Hegseth started blowing up boats in the Caribbean, it looked like an easy win for Trump, who chose to ignore the potential war crimes issue and the lack of public evidence that these boats were being used to smuggle drugs.

Trump wanted the Army to have a parade, and Hegseth threw one together. It wasn’t very good, but Trump got what he wanted.

Trump wanted a war on DEI, and Hegseth decided to fire, deny promotions to or sideline the most qualified senior military officers. What Trump wants, Hegseth delivers while repeating the same buzzwords, catchphrases, and rhetoric as his boss.

There’s just one major problem with that: You still need to tell your boss the truth, even if he doesn’t like it.

Hegseth has made plenty of appearances where he and Gen. Dan Caine have extolled the work of the U.S. military while diminishing the capabilities of the Iranian military. We have heard all the talk about how the U.S. has destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, air defenses, and missile and drone capabilities.

Now, to be fair, the military will always lie in this situation. Of course you want to misdirect the enemy, engage in a propaganda war, and project strength. It would be dumb not to. Can you imagine if Caine were to come out and say, “Well, it’s a quagmire”? The military is unlikely to tell the full truth in the midst of open conflict.

But sometimes, those lies can turn into something worse. Like Pat Tillman’s death by friendly fire in Afghanistan, the tales told about the capture of Jessica Lynch, or the controversy over the book and movie, “Lone Survivor.” Sometimes the military will go a step further by lying about our involvement with other countries, as with the bombing of Cambodia. And sometimes it will lie to justify a war, as in Iraq.

But Hegseth didn’t just sell the American public on success in Iran. He sold it to the president. And it seems that a lot of the dubious claims Trump has been trumpeting since the start of the war have come from Hegseth.

Whether Trump just takes it at face value or knows better and still lies can be debated. But it seems that Hegseth is set on creating a narrative instead of telling the truth. This has led to major schisms with senior military leadership and a current spat with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Mind you, this is in the middle of a war for which Hegseth has been the biggest cheerleader, even claiming this war was backed by God.

Trump infamously clashed with others in the Department of Defense during his first term, including Defense Secretaries Jim Mattis and Mark Esper. He also clashed with other generals, like his chief of staff John Kelly and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump, with his lack of military experience, doesn’t like the nuance and caution that come with running the military. That is why he sought someone equally as inexperienced to run the world’s strongest fighting force.

But now, reality has set in. Trump didn’t get the easy victory that he had been promised, and now must navigate the military quagmire, economic turmoil, and political firestorm the Iran war has created. He needs someone to blame so he can reset. He needs look no further than his ultimate yes man.

Jos Joseph is a recipient of the Military Reporters and Editors award for Best Commentary / Opinion. A graduate of Harvard and Ohio State, he is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.

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