US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth found himself in the firing line on Capitol Hill this week, alternating between aggressive deflections regarding President Donald Trump’s mental fitness and a dogged defence of a record-shattering $1.5 trillion military budget.
The spectacles in the House and Senate Armed Services committees captured a Pentagon chief visibly frustrated by questions that strayed from procurement to the US president’s psychological state.
During one exchange that has since gone viral, Democratic lawmaker Sara Jacobs pointedly asked Hegseth if Trump remained “mentally stable enough” to serve as commander-in-chief.
I asked Secretary Hegseth a straightforward, yes or no question today: Is Donald Trump mentally stable enough to be Commander in Chief?
He didn’t say yes. And that speaks volumes. pic.twitter.com/ncWhEBAX9r
— Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (@RepSaraJacobs) April 29, 2026
Hegseth, eschewing a direct “yes” or “no,” attempted to pivot the scrutiny toward Trump’s predecessor.
“I won’t even engage in the level of disparagement that you’re putting on the commander-in-chief,” an angry Hegseth remarked, after Jacobs reminded him that Joe Biden had not been president for a year and a half.
Hegseth eventually settled on describing Trump as an “incredible” leader who “puts our troops first.”
A ‘generational reset’
This administrative theatre comes as the Trump team seeks a “historic” $1.5 trillion for the 2027 military budget proposal. Hegseth framed the eye-watering request as a “generational reset” necessitated by years of “underinvestment and mismanagement.”
The proposal includes a seven per cent pay increase for junior enlisted personnel and a commitment to eliminate “all poor or failing barracks.” Hegseth argued that the ability to innovate and support “warfighters at speed and at scale” is the foundation of national survival.
Midnight rants and AI doctors
However, the Secretary’s insistence on Trump’s “incredible” command is being tested by the President’s own social media habits. Amidst a stalemate in peace talks with Iran, Trump has issued a series of incendiary midnight posts that have fuelled concerns over his mental agility.
In one alarming instance, the President threatened that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran failed to meet his demands.
The erratic behaviour extended to the digital realm when Trump shared – and later deleted – an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure with divine light emanating from his hands.
When challenged on the messianic imagery, Trump offered the curious defence that the picture was intended to show him “as a doctor making people better.”
As Hegseth continues to pitch a budget designed to maintain the “world’s most powerful” military, he remains under fire for what critics describe as “lying to the American public” regarding the realities of the ongoing conflict with Iran.
