Liputan6.com, Washington, County of Colombia – The US Secretary of Defense (US Secretary of Defense) Pete Hegset canceled his visit to Israel, which was originally supposed to take place on Monday (5/5/2025). This decision was made after President Donald Trump asked him to go on a trip to the Middle East, using the Air Force One from Washington. This information was confirmed by three officials from Israel and the USA.
Quote Axios, They say that this cancellation is an important political signal, namely Trump, which still has the full support of Hegseth, although the minister has suffered from various disputes over the past three months.
In an interview with Kristen Welker from NBC Last week, Trump said that Hegset did a very good job and that his position as the Minister of Defense was completely safe.
According to the Israeli official, the Highs’ visit to Israel was prepared a few days ago. He was supposed to meet with Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katsu and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, Hegseth is also planned to follow the military briefing on the ship of the Israeli military fleet off the coast of gas.
Initially, the agenda, Hegset will go from Israel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (5/13) to join the visits of President Trump in the state. However, on Thursday (8/5), the Hegset team told the Israeli Ministry of Defense that the plan was canceled because President Trump wanted Hegit to participate in the group since he left Washington. Two American officials also confirmed this information.
In addition to the hegset, several other high -ranking officials will also accompany Trump during a visit to the Middle East, including Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, Minister of Finance Scott of Demon, Minister of Energy Chris Wright and Minister of Trade of Trade of Lutnik.
Responding to the news about this cancellation, the Pentagon representative Sean Parnell passed clarification through the social networks platform X.
“The Minister of Defense did not cancel his visit to Israel,” Parnell wrote. “He was asked to take part in the journey of President Trump in the Middle East next week and was honored. The Minister of Defense was looking forward to an immediate visit to our allies, Israel. ”
