Multiple top officials in the Trump administration are coming under mounting scrutiny over personal and policy decisions, putting members of a Cabinet that Tuesday displayed a united front on shakier footing.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in hot water, this time over strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and whether one such deadly attack amounted to a war crime.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi are both facing critics inside and outside the administration over implementing and messaging the president’s agenda.
And FBI Director Kash Patel, a key part of the team who is not technically in the president’s Cabinet, is under a growing spotlight over his personal travel as well his decisionmaking. Those problems have been compounded by a recent critical account of the bureau’s leadership from current and former agents.
Trump and White House officials have pushed back on reports that he is considering changes in his Cabinet, and the president has been cognizant of avoiding the kind of infighting and turnover that plagued his first administration.
“We’ve done a lot. This group has done a lot. Everyone, everybody at this table has done a fantastic job,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
Like other televised meetings of Trump’s Cabinet, Tuesday’s on-air presentation was filled with platitudes for Trump and talk of the great work done by the team during its 10-plus months in office.
But this meeting came with a backdrop of falling approval ratings for Trump, sweeping election losses last month and growing controversies for some key players on the president’s team. Some of the criticism or negative stories have also come from within MAGA World.
No one is under more scrutiny than Hegseth, who has come under bipartisan pressure for military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in early September, including a second strike meant to take out survivors. The White House and Hegseth have said Navy Adm. Frank Bradley was authorized to carry out that second strike, but that has not quieted the consternation on Capitol Hill.
It’s far from the first time Hegseth has been at the center of negative headlines. His nomination to lead the Pentagon was nearly sunk by allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and other controversial behavior in his previous jobs.
He was again at the center of controversy early this year when he shared sensitive information about strikes in Yemen in a group chat in the Signal messaging app.
Trump has stuck with Hegseth in each case, and he appears poised to do so again amid uproar over the boat strikes. Hegseth was seated next to the president at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, and Republican allies of Trump have argued Democrats have been out to get Hegseth from the beginning.
Patel, another controversial Trump pick, has also spent recent weeks fending off negative headlines and rumors about his job security.
New stories have circulated about the FBI director using an agency jet to see a performance by his girlfriend, a country music singer, and for a summer golf trip to Scotland. Patel faced criticism from some Republicans for his handling of the search for the suspected shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The latest blow was a New York Post report detailing an assessment of FBI leadership based on the accounts of both active and retired agents that described Patel as “in over his head.” The author of the report was Miranda Devine, a columnist who has hosted Trump and other top White House officials on her podcast.
Trump told reporters last week he does not plan to replace Patel.
“No, he’s doing a great job, I think,” Trump said.
Sources close to the White House told The Hill that Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, has also been the subject of criticism among Trump allies.
There is particular frustration over Noem’s association with Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump adviser who has served as a top aide in the department and has rubbed some in the administration the wrong way. Noem attracted more scrutiny in October when The New York Times reported the department had spent nearly $200 million on two private jets for Noem and other officials.
Despite the scrutiny of Noem, White House officials have expressed support for her. She has been relentlessly on message in leading deportation efforts and a crackdown at the southern border, two key issues for Trump.
Others in the Cabinet previously appeared to be on tenuous ground, only to recover through fighting back in the media and expressing loyalty to Trump.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s standing within the administration came into question in June after the president twice publicly dismissed her testimony that Iran was not close to developing a nuclear weapon. Gabbard has since made public announcements targeting investigations around the 2016 election, and tensions with Trump have cooled.
Bondi faced a slew of criticism and some calls for her job earlier this year after some felt she had overpromised and underdelivered on releasing files related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Trump defended Bondi at the time, and she has remained in good standing with the White House.
The sources close to the White House told The Hill that Trump in his second term is less likely to move on from Cabinet secretaries based on a bad news cycle, so long as they are remaining loyal and carrying out his agenda. Trump has so far avoided the kind of turnover that was commonplace in the West Wing during his first term, with former national security adviser Mike Waltz the only major departure thus far.
In a nod to efforts to publicly present a united front, Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting was something of a lovefest.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Trump he’d created “the greatest Cabinet.” Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration, called it the “best Cabinet in history.”
“This is a very talented team,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, turning to Trump. “As you know, because you picked every single one. You deserve tremendous credit for doing that.”