Three senior Pentagon officials appointed under President Trump have been suspended amid an internal investigation into national security leaks. The probe targets unauthorized disclosures of classified military activities and foreign policy decisions, raising alarms over internal breaches within the Department of Defense.
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Darin Selnick, deputy chief of staff; and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, have all been placed on administrative leave. These moves reflect the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance stance on security breaches and internal sabotage.
The investigation centers on a series of high-level leaks, including classified plans for military action in the Panama Canal zone, the strategic deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Red Sea, and the suspension of intelligence activities tied to Ukraine. Also implicated in the leaks was information surrounding Elon Musk’s private visit to the Pentagon, which had not been previously disclosed to the public or Congress.
The effort to clamp down on these leaks accelerated after a March 21 memo from Joe Kasper, chief of staff to Secretary Hegseth. The memo directed all defense department staff to prepare for heightened security scrutiny, including polygraph testing, to root out internal threats to national security.
These administrative actions are not disciplinary at this stage but signal the seriousness of the breach. President Trump’s administration has consistently prioritized national defense integrity and has made clear that internal leaks will not be tolerated.
The Department of Defense has yet to comment on the identities of other potential subjects in the investigation, but officials confirm the probe remains ongoing. The timing of the leaks and the high-level access of the suspended officials indicate a coordinated effort to undermine operational security.
The Pentagon has not released a timeline for concluding the investigation, but officials have indicated that further actions—including possible criminal referrals—are on the table, depending on the findings.
