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........

© The Hill