President Donald Trump turned a question about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s possible impeachment into an attack on CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
A day later, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a defense that put the president back at the center of the controversy.
Their remarks underscored a problem with Trump’s effort to shield his Pentagon chief.
Both officials defended the military operations behind the impeachment effort Tuesday, arguing that Hegseth carried out the president’s decisions. The actions lawmakers want to investigate lead directly back to the White House.
Rubio made that connection explicit when reporters asked whether Hegseth’s actions involving Iran, suspected drug boats, Venezuela and Yemen were lawful.
“The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief, and he has a right to defend this country and to address imminent threats that pose a threat to the United States, and he’s done so,” Rubio said.
He added that Hegseth acted on “the direct order from the Commander-in-Chief.”
Hegseth also defended his execution of Trump’s military decisions during a Pentagon news conference, rejecting the impeachment effort as a political attack.
“I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” he said.
Neither man accused Trump of wrongdoing. Both insisted the operations were justified. But their defense placed responsibility for the decisions with the president, even as Trump tried to dismiss questions about whether his defense secretary broke the law.
The exchange followed Trump’s confrontation with Collins during an impromptu White House briefing Monday.
“Will you stand by Pete Hegseth if he’s impeached?” Collins asked.
“Yeah, I’ll stand by him,” Trump replied.
When Collins pressed him about keeping Hegseth in his Cabinet, Trump pointed to what he described as military victories.
“He won two wars. He was in charge. We all won. I had great people,” Trump said.
Collins then brought the discussion back to Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s allegations that Hegseth carried out illegal acts.
Trump responded by attacking the Kentucky congressman, Collins and her network.
“Massie’s a loser. Just like you’re a loser at CNN. Just like your ratings are a loser,” he said.
He called Massie a “stone-cold loser” before shifting into a response about Iran and his efforts to defeat the congressman politically.
Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment Monday, accusing Hegseth of misconduct involving the Iran war, deadly strikes on suspected drug boats and other military operations.
The resolution includes allegations that Hegseth waged and continued the Iran war without congressional authorization, disregarded protections for civilians and oversaw what it describes as “extrajudicial killings.” It also challenges the military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the campaign against Yemen and efforts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his criticism of unlawful military orders.
Those are allegations in the impeachment resolution. Hegseth disputes them.
On Tuesday, he called the effort “a farce” and “a stunt,” arguing that his critics were turning policy disagreements into grounds for impeachment.
“This is not patriotism, this is sabotage,” Hegseth said.
Rubio offered a similar defense, describing the operations as responses to threats against the United States. He characterized Maduro’s capture as a law enforcement operation and argued that drug trafficking posed an imminent threat.
Later, when asked about unity within the administration over Iran policy, Rubio again emphasized who makes the decisions.
“But in the end, the decision is the President,” he said. “And once the President chooses a direction, it’s our job in this administration to execute on the President’s direction.”
That argument leaves the central dispute unresolved: whether the administration had authority to conduct the operations without Congress’ approval.
Massie has framed the impeachment effort around that question, rather than simply a disagreement with Hegseth.
“What’s at heart here is the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress,” he said.
The congressman also challenged Hegseth to address the eight articles individually and explain why his actions were lawful.
Trump, meanwhile, praised Hegseth’s Tuesday appearance in a Truth Social post, giving him an “A” followed by three “PLUS” marks and again attacking Massie.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expected lawmakers to defeat the impeachment effort. An initial procedural vote was expected Tuesday on whether to advance the resolution.
Democratic leaders have backed impeachment, and some Republicans have expressed concerns about Hegseth’s future. But House passage would begin another stage of the process.
Removing Hegseth would require a two-thirds vote of senators present at a Senate trial.
