Pete Hegseth is determined to do things his way and leave his mark on military history as Defense Secretary.
But somehow he keeps embarrassing himself and President Donald Trump’s administration to the point that many now question his decisions.
Hegseth broke protocol by using military planes for friends like Kid Rock and recently broke an invaluable piece of the American presidency. Now his decisions have bled into the NFL.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints kicked off the NFL’s first regular-season game in France on Oct. 25, marking Pittsburgh’s second straight year playing overseas.
Kick off took place at 9:30 a.m. ET to accommodate an afternoon start in Europe, with the game airing on NFL Network.
Protests overshadowed the game in the days earlier, forcing organizers to cancel several fan and team events in France. Many cancellations involved venues in central Paris, while the game took place at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of the city.
The State Department warned Americans attending the game, but the controversy has also created another clash inside the White House.
But the person whose office tried to pull U.S. troops from the event won’t be on the sidelines.
Trump’s top officials Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed over U.S. military participation in the Paris game.
According to the Washington Post, Hegseth’s office sought to pull all troops from the event and cancel all military involvement.
State Department officials pushed back, arguing that a military presence would carry diplomatic value and that personnel faced no high risk.
Hegseth’s team ultimately backed down, agreeing to a small military contingent to participate with a color guard of fewer than 10 troops. His spokespeople refused to explain who pushed to pull all military support or why the Pentagon abruptly reversed course.
But that didn’t stop outraged NFL fans from blasting him online. “Hegseth was overruled,” said one person, noting he gave in. Another person suggested his “power is slipping away.”
Some fans who read between the lines believe “he was mad he didn’t get an invite.”
Piling on, another person said, “Doesn’t the kegster have more important things to concern himself with? Like gluing the Eisenhower globe back together?”
An Oct. 22 report by The Washington Post revealed that Hegseth’s aides damaged a rare 30-inch globe associated with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower while moving it in February 2026.
The globe dates to the 1930s and was reportedly used by Eisenhower while planning the D-Day invasion during World War II. It was one of two similar artifacts housed at the Pentagon.
Hegseth reportedly admired the globe and wanted it displayed in his office. Rather than wait for professional movers trained to handle fragile historical objects, his aides decided to tackle the job themselves.
What could go wrong?
“They lost control of the artifact and dropped it, sending the globe crashing on to its base and impaling the fragile shell near Antarctica,” one alleged source told the newspaper.
Photographs showed fragments scattered across a blue hallway carpet. Another image revealed a large gash near the bottom.
An alleged Army spokesperson confirmed the damage occurred during “an attempted move” and said the globe had separated from its rotating metal mount.
The globe never reached Hegseth’s office. Instead, the historic artifact is undergoing repairs. The Pentagon tried to brush off the embarrassing episode, describing the globe as a replica.
“Accidents happen, we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired,” a spokesperson said. They dismissed the report as an “inconsequential non-story.”
Social media users weren’t buying the damage control, saying, “His staff REALLY hates him for this story to get out.”
Others couldn’t resist turning the Pentagon’s latest embarrassment into a punchline.
“Okay but in his defense, he probably thought it was one of those globes with a liquor cabinet inside of it,” one Threads user joked.
The incident adds to a growing collection of controversies surrounding Hegseth’s leadership.
In April 2025, he was mocked after reports surfaced about a Pentagon makeup room featuring a lighted mirror, a director’s chair, and a custom countertop. The makeover drew criticism amid federal spending cuts. Hegseth denied ordering a makeup studio.
Apparently, the Pentagon needed a little more camera-ready glamour.
By April 2026, Hegseth was facing a different kind of makeover problem. This time, a federal judge wasn’t impressed with his attempts to reshape press access. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman rebuked the Pentagon for trying to circumvent an earlier ruling that protected journalists’ rights.
Friedman accused Hegseth of trying to control what Americans could see and hear about the administration.
Then in May 2026, he picked another fight that quickly blew up in his face. He accused Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of discussing classified information about depleted military stockpiles.
Kelly responded with footage of Hegseth discussing the same issue during a public Senate hearing on April 30.
Between his block of the soliders in the game paired with the damaged Eisenhower globe critics have plenty of reason to question Hegseth’s judgment.
Pete Hegseth reportedly wanted Dwight Eisenhower’s globe in his office, but did not want to wait for historians to move it and went rogue. Hegseth’s staff then attempted to move it themselves and broke the historic globe. https://t.co/JU2agk0ZhE
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) October 22, 2026
