WASHINGTON

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday dismissed a news report alleging he again shared sensitive details about planned American airstrikes in Yemen in a private Signal group chat, calling it a smear campaign driven by “disgruntled former employees” and the “fake news media.”

"What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won't give back their Pulitzers, they got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies," Hegseth told reporters at the White House.

"This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations," he said.

Hegseth was responding to a New York Times report that said he used the private messaging group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer to share details of a March 15 strike in Yemen targeting Houthis. The report cited four unnamed individuals familiar with the matter.

“Not going to work with me,” Hegseth said. “We’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters.”

Earlier, it was revealed that Hegseth and Cabinet officials discussed US military strikes on Yemen in a Signal chat group that mistakenly included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.