Pete Hegseth found himself awkwardly singled out in Washington this week when Donald Trump used a Cabinet meeting, held in front of reporters and senior officials, to reveal that one of Hegseth's harshest critics had privately changed tune and now thought the defence secretary was 'doing a good job.' The moment, meant as praise, landed more like a public needling, with Hegseth offering a muted 'Thank you, sir,' as Trump kept going.
The exchange came as a partial U.S. government shutdown edged towards its sixth week and as the Pentagon announced that 2,000 additional American troops were being sent to Iran. With the meeting open to the press and the stakes plainly high, viewers might reasonably have expected a measure of gravity.
