Vance Has ‘100 Percent Confidence’ in Hegseth Amid Signal Scrutiny

The White House ‘stands strongly’ behind the embattled defense secretary, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media as he departs Agra, India, en route to Jaipur, India, after visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, on April 23, 2025. Kenny Holston/Pool/Getty Images

Vice President JD Vance said on April 23 that he has full confidence in Pete Hegseth despite renewed scrutiny over the defense secretary’s use of the Signal messaging app.

“I have 100 percent confidence in the secretary. I know the president does, and really, the entire team does,” Vance told reporters in Agra, India, after visiting the Taj Mahal.

The vice president accused the media of trying to “tank” Hegseth’s nomination from the start. He suggested that recent controversies surrounding the defense secretary have just been an extension of those efforts.

“I think he’s doing a great job,” Vance said, pointing to rising military recruitment numbers as a “great testament” to Hegseth’s leadership.

“I wish, frankly, the press talked more about that, and not about anonymous sourcing from random staffers,” Vance said.

Vance’s comments followed the White House’s denial of reports that the administration is searching for Hegseth’s replacement.

The former Fox News host’s tenure as defense secretary has had a tumultuous start. In March, a leaked Signal group chat between him and several other Trump administration officials concerning U.S. airstrikes in Yemen sparked a media firestorm and an investigation by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general.

The latest controversy follows reports that Hegseth allegedly shared airstrike schedules in a second Signal chat that included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.

At the White House earlier this week, Hegseth brushed off the new claims as the “smears” of former employees who had recently been fired.

“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth said while attending the annual Easter Egg Roll with his kids.

“This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me. Because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news don’t matter.”

Three top Pentagon officials were placed on leave last week amid a Defense Department probe into the leaks. The employees in question included Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, adviser Dan Caldwell, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at an April 22 press briefing that the former employees “leaked against their boss to news agencies in this room.”

Leavitt said the administration would not tolerate “individuals who leak to the mainstream media, particularly when it comes to sensitive information.”

She also echoed Hegseth’s view that he was being targeted in a “smear campaign” to prevent him from enacting “monumental change” at the Pentagon.

“Let me reiterate, the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth and the change he is bringing to the Pentagon, and the results that he has achieved thus far speak for themselves,” Leavitt said.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.