Pentagon scrubs policy board site over alleged hostility to Trump
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After former Pentagon aide Dan Caldwell accused the Defense Policy Board of harboring anti-Trump members responsible for leaks, the Pentagon quietly removed the board’s website and member list.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump meets with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 24, 2025. (AP)
The Pentagon discreetly removed the Defense Policy Board’s website after a former aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had been dismissed, alleged that it was filled with members hostile to President Donald Trump and potentially responsible for harmful leaks.
The board’s online member list was taken down following Dan Caldwell’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show, where he claimed the board was made up of individuals "incredibly hostile" to Trump.
Caldwell was let go on Friday as part of a leak investigation within the Defense Department that has also resulted in the removal of several close associates of Hegseth.
During his interview with Carlson, Caldwell portrayed himself as a casualty of an internal struggle between pro-war advocates pushing for war with Iran and non-interventionists like himself.
Despite the Defense Policy Board is merely an advisory body without any direct authority, Caldwell pointed fingers at members such as Susan Rice, a former aide to Joe Biden, suggesting they could be behind the leaks he was accused of.
“She and a bunch of other people who are incredibly hostile to the president and his worldview remain on the Defense Policy Board,” the fired aide said, adding, “I would just say, if you want to look where leaks are maybe coming from, that would be a place to start.”
His accusations quickly gained traction online, boosted by former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
By Thursday, the names of Susan Rice and other members of the policy board had disappeared from the Pentagon’s website. According to Internet Archive records, the removal occurred after Caldwell’s interview was shared on X on Monday.
Earlier in the week, a Pentagon spokesperson told Responsible Statecraft that the roster was “up to date.”
It remains uncertain whether the board members have actually been dismissed, as the Defense Department has yet to respond to a request for comment.
If Hegseth has indeed removed them, it would mark the latest in a string of significant shake-ups to the board’s composition over the last five years.
While the board stayed mostly unchanged during the early years of Trump’s presidency, many of its members were removed by the administration in November 2020.
Trump replaced longtime policy board members like Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright with loyalists such as Newt Gingrich and Scott O’Grady. After taking office, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin removed all members from the board and others, later filling the roles with establishment figures from both Democratic and Republican administrations, including individuals like Susan Rice and Eric Edelman.
According to board minutes available online, it has not convened since June of last year.
It's unclear why Hegseth, who has quickly removed Biden-affiliated people from Defense Department leadership, would have enabled Rice to access classified material.
Caldwell contended that board participation would have provided a path for members like Rice by providing her with a "credential and affiliation" with the Pentagon.
