Donald Trump's defence secretary Pete Hegseth shared classified information on an unsecured group chat - not once but twice, according to new details that emerged this week. But the real turbulence shaking the Pentagon isn’t just about loose digital lips. It’s deeper: a toxic mix of internal rivalries, leadership clashes, and a crumbling sense of morale at the very top of America's defence hierarchy.

To unpack the chaos, we speak to Kathleen McInnis, senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, former Pentagon staffer and author of a novel about life inside the defence department. She explains why encrypted apps like Signal are favored in Hegseth’s circles — and what life is really like behind the walls of the Pentagon.

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