Washington DC - President Donald Trump is allegedly preparing to axe his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, but is there any truth to the rumors?

According to a report from NPR published on Monday, a source claimed that the White House has already begun the process of seeking a replacement for Hegseth.

The claim comes as the former Fox News host faces heavy criticism for sharing sensitive military information on an unauthorized commercial messaging app, which has raised concerns about national security risks and the arguable ineptitude of his department.

Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials, including Hegseth, discussed military strikes on Yemen.

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This past weekend, explosive reports came out revealing that Hegseth was caught again sharing similar information in a seperate chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.

Despite the controversies, the Trump administration has denied the rumors that they want to get rid of Hegseth.

In an X post on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called NPR's story "FAKE NEWS," and said the president "stands strongly" behind Hegseth.

That same day, Trump also defended Hegseth, arguing he is doing a "great job."

"Just ask the Houthis how he's doing," Trump jokingly added.

On Monday, Hegseth attended the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

At one point, as he was standing with his children, he was asked about the NPR story, which sent him into a bizarre rant about the Trump administration's war against the media.

"This is what we're doing it for – these kids, right here. This is why we're fighting the fake news media," he said.

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"This is why we're fighting hoaxsters! This group right here - full of hoaxsters!" Hegseth continued, pointing at several reporters.

CNN political analyst Stephen Collinson recently argued the defense secretary is probably "safe – for now," as "firing Hegseth three months into a tenure that started with national security experts warning he was dangerously unprepared to lead the Pentagon would force an embarrassed Trump to admit he'd made a mistake."