Hegseth's staff damaged an Eisenhower-era globe during a rushed Pentagon move

What the Washington Post reported

The Washington Post reported that a globe used by Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Second World War was damaged while being moved toward the office of Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary. Sources told the paper that the object dates from the 1930s and that the Pentagon keeps two globes Eisenhower used. Hegseth's staff had asked for one of them to be taken to the secretary's office, and the reports put its diameter between 70 and 75 centimeters. Eisenhower relied on globes while planning operations, including the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.

How the move went wrong

Staff from the defense secretary's office carried out the move on 3 February 2026. Specialists from the U.S. Army Center of Military History normally handle objects of this kind, but a partial shutdown of federal government services early that year had sent them on forced leave. According to sources cited by the paper, the handlers lost control of the globe, which fell onto its base and tore a hole near Antarctica, about 10 centimeters wide in one account. Army spokesman Christopher Serridge said the sphere also came loose from the metal mount that lets it rotate. Serridge said the damaged relic was never moved to Hegseth's office, and when asked which office the movers came from, he referred reporters to Hegseth's office, which declined to comment.

Pentagon response

The Army confirmed to the paper that the globe was damaged during an attempted move and that the transfer was never completed. After the report appeared on Thursday, 22 October, a Pentagon representative confirmed the incident, saying accidents happen, that nobody was hurt and that the globe is being repaired. Neither the Pentagon nor the Army has disclosed what the repair will cost or how long it will take. The Pentagon reportedly refused to let reporters inspect the object or provide photographs, so the paper obtained images through defense sources. A separate account, citing the Pentagon's comments to AFP, says the Pentagon described the damaged object as a replica of Eisenhower's globe and called the Washington Post article unimportant. That account differs from the Army's confirmation that the globe itself was damaged, and no source reconciles the two.

Criticism and background

Ty Seidule, a retired general and former history professor at West Point, sharply criticized the episode and said Hegseth wanted an Eisenhower object in the hope of resembling him. Hegseth, who lets himself be called Secretary of War, has promoted the name Department of War, which the Trump administration adopted for the Pentagon and which was used until 1947. Another globe linked to Eisenhower was moved years ago from a depot in Alabama to an army base, with a specialist moving firm using cloths and a custom crate to protect it. The Pentagon's 2026 move had none of those precautions, according to the reports.

Open questions

It is unclear whether Hegseth personally ordered the move, and the reports do not say whether his staff had comparable protective materials. A source cited by the paper described an apparent lack of patience on the part of Hegseth's team. Sources reported that the federal shutdown ended a day after the move, so the specialists could have handled the globe shortly afterward, but the reason the team did not wait remains unexplained.