Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other allies of President Trump won't state a plain fact about the war. Politics has a way of making simple truths harder to tell.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to solely blame Russia for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, telling Fox News he believed the situation was more complex. As his boss, President Donald Trump,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joins ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and changes at the Pentagon.

In all, it was a bruising, 72-hour crash course in the geopolitical realities of a job that critics complain Mr. Hegseth, a 44-year-old former National Guard infantryman and Fox News host, is unqualified to hold. Mr. Hegseth’s trip to Europe, his first overseas visit since being sworn in on Jan. 25, started off on an unusual note.

Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is 3%, nor is 4% — more like 5%,” the defense secretary said in a speech in Brussels.

In his first big turn on the world stage, the defense secretary has already been forced to offer a major walk-back.

Defense Secretary Hegseth was asked on Friday about the possibility of the U.S. sending troops to Ukraine shortly after Vice President Vance referenced the potential in an interview.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said of potential negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that "everything is on the table." "I want to be clear about something as it pertains ...

As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, the United States is ramping up efforts to broker a peace deal, but sharp divisions are emerging over how to approach Russia’s role in the conflict.

After promising to quickly resolve the war in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump and his top officials’ actions on Feb. 12 appeared to undermine Ukraine’s leverage in peace talks, renewing fears that his plans for a quick resolution could amount to a victory for Russia.

Hegseth, 44, demanded a proposal that would include annual 8% cuts to the Pentagon’s roughly $850 billion budget, according to a memo.