MAGA allies are in uproar after revelations about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “unusually large” personal security detail were published Wednesday. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth’s extensive security requirements have placed strain on the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID), which has allegedly pulled agents away from criminal investigations to protect his family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
An unnamed CID official told the paper they had “never seen this many security teams for one guy…Nobody has.” The report triggered immediate backlash from members of President Donald Trump’s administration and his supporters, who accused the media of endangering Hegseth and his family.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican and close Trump ally, called the story “treason” and urged the FBI to investigate. On X, she wrote: “WaPo just doxxed sensitive info about @SecDef’s SECURITY DETAIL. This isn’t journalism, it’s a national security threat. I’m calling on @FBIDirectorKash & @FBIDDBongino to open an official FBI investigation into the leakers and the hacks who printed it.
TREASON won’t hide behind a press badge.” The criticism comes in the wake of two assassination attempts against Trump in 2024. On July 13, a gunman grazed the former president’s ear with a bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and injuring two others before Secret Service fatally shot the suspect.
Weeks later, another attempt was foiled at Trump’s Florida golf course. “In the wake of two assassinations attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it’s astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week,” Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
Parnell added that “any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).”
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson echoed the anger, posting on X: “By publishing details about Secretary Hegseth’s security protocols, the Washington Post is actively putting him and his family in danger for clicks. These ‘reporters’ are disgusting.”
The Pentagon’s Rapid Response account added: “President Trump was SHOT and nearly KILLED just last year—yet the corporate media STILL plays reckless games with people’s lives. Have they learned NOTHING?”
The Post also reported that Hegseth’s protective detail extends to his two former spouses in order to safeguard their children, something CID officials called unusual. Agents have at times been diverted from cases “doing what we are supposed to be doing” to instead “sit on luggage” or guard driveways, one official told the paper.