MS NOW’s Michael Steele said the Trump administration’s blame game over the Iran war has reached a whole new level.
“When it comes to the war with Iran, we’ve gotten plenty of rosy proclamations, finger-pointing and flat-out lies from the Trump administration. But folks, these past few days have really been something else,” he said on Thursday’s “The Briefing.”
Steele cited new reporting from The Washington Post about a clash between President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at Camp David last week. According to two people familiar with the exchange, Trump tore into Hegseth and demanded answers about why “he had apparently been misled about extreme munition shortages” at the Pentagon.
But instead of taking responsibility for his department’s failings, Steele said the secretary took a different approach.
“Hegseth, the testosterone-touting man that he is, defended himself by doing what we’ve seen him do before: Blame someone else,” he said.
Hegseth reportedly blamed his deputy for the shortages and for failing to make sure Trump was fully informed, according to the Post.
Steele noted that the White House has denied that the confrontation took place, and Trump has insisted there’s no “beef” between himself and Hegseth. But the “The Weeknight” co-host also shared new reporting from The Wall Street Journal that indicated the continuing concerns about the United States’ munitions shortages is getting under the president’s skin.
The Journal, citing several administration officials, reported that Trump has ordered new investigations into media leaks about the shrinking stockpile. Advisers also told the outlet that the president’s irritation over the war “has grown” in recent weeks and his “fury has sparked discussions” with Hegseth.
While the White House again denied any confrontations between the president and Hegseth and downplayed concerns about the stockpile, telling the Journal that the U.S. has “more than enough firepower to carry out any operation the President orders,” Steele said the reports of tensions between the president and his secretary paint a picture of an administration in crisis and looking for a scapegoat.
“Look, if the reporting’s out there, there must be something very serious happening,” he said.
You can watch Steele’s full commentary in the clip at the top of the page.
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