Pete Hegseth falls under scrutiny for 'jaw-dropping' Iran moves: 'How damning'

President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested he was caught off guard by Iran's response to the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation, and that has placed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth under scrutiny.

Sources have said the self-styled "secretary of war" downplayed the risks of Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and launching counterstrikes on its Middle Eastern neighbors, and CNN's Erica Hill asked her panelists on "CNN This Morning" whether Hegseth had failed in his role.

"CNN also had reporting in the days just before the war that Gen. [Dan] Caine, [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff], was really in a bit of a balancing act here, right?" Hill said. "Trying to avoid confrontation with the president while also laying out, trying to lay out the risks here of the war. Especially in a moment like this, when U.S. service members are being sent into a dangerous situation, it's important that the president have the full scope of what could happen. This is more reporting that that's not happening. How damning could that be?"

Journalist Margaret Talev agreed that the president should have full awareness of the risks of a military operation, from the best-case scenario to the worst-case scenario, as well as long-term prospects, and she said early indications suggest that Trump was not provided with an in-depth assessment.

"As this goes on, this kind of reporting is going to be really important, important to help people understand the conversation that's going on behind the scenes," said Talev, director of Syracuse University's Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship. "But I do think there are certainly leadership on the president's side inside the government, including the chairman of the joint chiefs who can give all of that kind of guidance and all of that kind of scenario planning."

Hegseth has also drawn criticism from retired military leaders for his "braggadocious" posturing during updates on Operation Epic Fury, and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona said she was astonished by the disconnect between his chest-beating public performances and seeming dereliction behind the scenes.

"I think one of the things that we can't do here is extract the politics from this, because Donald Trump is the commander in chief," Cardona said, "and it was jaw-dropping to me when he said and has said several times that the reaction by the Iranians was unexpected. It was not unexpected. There have been plans, the reporting has been that there have been plans for years that this is exactly how Iran would react if we did what we did."

"Pete Hegseth and everyone who was surrounding him from the political standpoint, they're all 'yes' people, and there is a danger in surrounding yourself with 'yes' people," she added. "But we all know that that's the only thing that Donald Trump accepts, and you even saw the joint chiefs, you said he was kind of dancing around and not wanting to say things very directly to to not offend Donald Trump. That doesn't do Donald Trump any good, and importantly, it doesn't do the American people any good. It absolutely takes away credibility, if Donald Trump had any credibility to begin with, because the things that he's saying don't track with the reality of what we're hearing in terms of reporting about the war."

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