Latest news with #KingsleyWilson
News18
15-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
Pentagon Withdraws Military Top Brass From Aspen Security Forum Citing Anti-Trump Bias
Last Updated: The Aspen Security Forum, hosted annually by the Aspen Institute, is considered one of the nation's premier gatherings on national security The US Department of Defence has abruptly pulled approximately a dozen high-ranking military officials from participating in this week's Aspen Security Forum, citing the Aspen Institute's alleged left-leaning political orientation and its inclusion of vocal critics of President Donald Trump, according to a report by Just The News. Despite being listed on the event's agenda, senior defence leaders, including the Secretary of the Navy and the Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, will no longer attend the event, a source confirmed to Just The News. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told the news website: 'The Department of Defence has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home." The Aspen Security Forum, hosted annually by the Aspen Institute — often dubbed 'the mountain retreat for the liberal elite" — is considered one of the nation's premier gatherings on national security and foreign policy. However, the Pentagon's decision signals growing tensions between the Biden administration and the Trump-aligned Department of Defence. Wilson further added, 'They are antithetical to the America First values of this administration. Senior representatives of the Department of Defence will no longer be participating in an event that promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States." Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who was also scheduled to speak at the forum, has similarly pulled out. At the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit this weekend, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the administration's stance, stating the DoD under past Democratic leadership had been 'distracted by experiments in left-wing ideology." The Pentagon's withdrawal is being interpreted as a symbolic rejection of institutions perceived as hostile to Trump's political platform, and a broader statement on where this administration intends to draw its ideological lines. view comments First Published: July 15, 2025, 08:18 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Axios
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Pentagon abruptly withdraws from Aspen Security Forum
The Pentagon pulled senior Defense Department officials from the Aspen Security Forum on Monday, a day before the four-day summit in Colorado was set to begin. Why it matters: The bipartisan national security forum has attracted Republican and Democratic administration officials for years. But Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson labeled said the event "promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States," per Just the News, which first reported on the move. The Aspen Institute's forum is among the most high-profile and exclusive on the national security and foreign policy circuits. Driving the news: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared a screenshot on X of Just the News' headline that stated "Pentagon pulls all military speakers from 'globalist' Aspen Security Forum" with the comment: "Correct." Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement Monday evening that senior Defense Department officials "will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD." He added, "The Department will remain strong in its focus to increase the lethality of our warfighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project Peace Through Strength on the world stage. It is clear the ASF is not in alignment with these goals." Wilson told Just The News that the Defense Department "has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home." Context: The Aspen Security Forum brings experts from across the globe together to debate what it calls the "most important security challenges facing the world." Several people who served in the first Trump administration are slated to speak at the summit: Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, ex-Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and Rob Joyce, who served as special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council. Other ASF speakers include Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Obama administration Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former CIA chief and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus and ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who both served in the George W. Bush administration. What they're saying: "For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials — Republican and Democrat, civilian and military—as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security," per a statement posted to the group's website. "This year, we extended invitations to senior Trump administration officials, including several cabinet-level leaders. Today the Department of Defense gave their speakers guidance that they 'will no longer be participating,'" it added. "We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open." What to expect: Anja Manuel, the Aspen Strategy Group executive director, told Axios last week that European defense officials would join foreign policy officials and others in what's shaping up to be a "hugely international" event this year.
Arab News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pentagon watchdog investigates if staffers were asked to delete Hegseth's Signal messages
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon's watchdog is looking into whether any of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's aides were asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The inspector general's request focuses on how information about the March 15 airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen was shared on the messaging app. This comes as Hegseth is scheduled to testify before Congress next week for the first time since his confirmation hearing. He is likely to face questions under oath not only about his handling of sensitive information but also the wider turmoil at the Pentagon following the departures of several senior aides and an internal investigation over information leaks. Hegseth already has faced questions over the installation of an unsecured Internet line in his office that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols and revelations that he shared details about the military strikes in multiple Signal chats. One of the chats included his wife and brother, while the other included President Donald Trump's top national security officials and inadvertently included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson had no comment Friday, citing the pending investigation. The inspector general's office would not discuss the details of the investigation but said that when the report is complete, their office will release unclassified portions of it to the public. Besides finding out whether anyone was asked to delete Signal messages, the inspector general also is asking some past and current staffers who were with Hegseth on the day of the strikes who posted the information and who had access to his phone, according to the two people familiar with the investigation and the documents reviewed by the AP. The people were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans have said that the information Hegseth posted to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets could have put those pilots' lives at risk and that for any lower-ranking members of the military it would have led to their firing. Hegseth has said none of the information was classified. Multiple current and former military officials have said there is no way details with that specificity, especially before a strike took place, would have been OK to share on an unsecured device. 'I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,' Hegseth told Fox News Channel in April after reporting emerged about the chat that included his family members. 'I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. That's what I've said from the beginning.' Trump has made clear that Hegseth continues to have his support, saying during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia that the defense secretary 'went through a lot' but 'he's doing really well.' Hegseth has limited his public engagements with the press since the Signal controversy. He has yet to hold a Pentagon press briefing, and his spokesman has briefed reporters there only once. The inspector general is investigating Hegseth at the request of the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Signal is a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications, but it can be hacked and is not approved for carrying classified information. On March 14, one day before the strikes against the Houthis, the Defense Department cautioned personnel about the vulnerability of the app. Trump has said his administration targeted the Houthis over their 'unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism.' He has noted the disruption Houthi attacks caused through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, key waterways for energy and cargo shipments between Asia and Europe through Egypt's Suez Canal. The Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, between November 2023 until January this year. Their leadership described the attacks as aimed at ending the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Appalling': Pentagon press secretary faces calls to resign over antisemitic posts
'This is a person who truly seems to be steeped in the most horrifying corners of the internet,' says Chris Hayes on Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson's social media posts parroting neo-Nazi and Russian propaganda.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jewish groups condemn deputy Pentagon press secretary over X post
The American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned deputy Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson over social media posts they described as antisemitic. 'Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office,' the American Jewish Committee wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X. 'Kingsley Wilson, newly appointed @DepPressSecDOD, is clearly unfit for her role,' they added. The comments from the committee and ADL come after Wilson criticized the ADL for their decision to condemn the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish man who the ADL says was falsely convicted for the murder of a 13-year-old in 1913. 'Leo Frank raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl. He also tried to frame a Black man for his crime,' Wilson wrote in August of last year. 'The ADL turned off the comments because they want to gaslight you,' she continued. The organization did not respond to her comments publicly but did condemn her post as a 'false conspiracy theory,' urging her to retract the remarks. 'We are deeply disturbed that any public official would parrot these hateful and false conspiracy theories and we hope Kingsley Wilson will immediately retract her remarks,' the ADL said in a statement to Jewish Insider when asked about her posts. The White House and the Pentagon did not respond to The Hill's requests for comment. Wilson has denounced the Pentagon's decision to send troops to Lebanon in an effort to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and she blasted the Biden administration for their financial support of Ukraine in their war against Russia. She has also urged the U.S. to stay out of 'foreign ethnic conflicts.' Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have disapproved of Wilson's rhetoric online. 'I'm not gonna tell them who to hire, but I do know that Trump doesn't believe any of the things she's talking about, and I'll leave it up to them to determine if they think she's the right spokesperson,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Politico. 'If what you say about these posts are true, then she's completely off-script with President Trump,' he continued. Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.) described Wilson's words as 'historical revisionism.' 'Kingsley Wilson, the Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Defense, is shamefully attempting to delegitimize Kosovo, which has been the single greatest American ally in the Western Balkans,' Torres wrote on X. 'No amount of historical revisionism can change the fundamental fact that Kosovo is and will always be an independent democracy.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
