Whiskey Pete Seems to be Buckling Under the Stress

There are now reports that Pete Hegseth  fears for his safety in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, with Pentagon insiders saying he's so rattled he looks to be 'crawling out of his skin.'  Two insiders in the defense secretary's newly-named "Department of War" say their boss has in the last few weeks been erupting in tirades, raging at staffers and obsessing about matters related to his security.

"There's a manic quality about him. Or let me rephrase, an even more manic quality, which is really saying something," one insider told us, describing Hegseth as visibly distracted, fidgeting and even standing up and pacing during meetings.  "Dude is crawling out of his skin," said the other.

Both sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing for their jobs at a time when they say Hegseth has been firing Pentagon officials for speaking to journalists and other watchdogs, including congressional staffers.  His department has recently threatened to yank media credentials from journalists who refuse to sign pledges that they will only publish information that it sanctions for public release.

Hegseth has also insisted on pushing through the Department of Defense's name change to the Department of War months earlier than his staff was ready, berating those who tried to delay the announcement.  They also say he has had tirades in response to legal advisors' and congressional members' suggestions that the military's recent killings of alleged Venezuelan narco-traffickers on boats in the Caribbean broke international law.

The insiders told us he also has lashed out against Pentagon staffers who have urged him to be more consistent when discussing the military's potential involvement in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and domestically in public.  'He takes things personally when challenged - like full-blown tantrums,' one of our sources said.

Hegseth's safety fears are being stoked by his wife, Jennifer, whose recent demands for added security for him, their family and their homes apparently go far beyond measures taken to protect any other Trump administration officials.  Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, a Fox News alumnus like her husband, found herself under scrutiny last spring when it was revealed that she was looped in on group messages about sensitive military details of a US strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen before it started in March.

Pentagon staff started nicknaming her 'Yoko Ono' for her attendance at Pentagon meetings and outsized involvement in her husband's job overseeing the nearly three million-strong United States military.  Although  it's said that she has stepped back from overt participation in his work, they note she has stayed closely involved, quietly advising Pentagon staff on ways to instill a more conservative, Christian and anti-woke culture in the military and shaping a narrative around her husband as the embodiment of those values.