Embarrassments in the Trump Administration: Hegseth Rebuked at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Rubio Flies to His Son's Games at a Cost of One Million Dollars
The US Secretary of Defense and his staff photographed at the Arlington memorial site on "Veterans Day," and when laughter was heard in the group, a member of the Honor Guard was documented rebuking them:…
Assessment
Two separate incidents are eroding the Trump administration's credibility on basic competence and propriety. Defense Secretary Hegseth's delegation was publicly scolded by a guard for laughing at Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day, a breach of decorum that went viral. Simultaneously, Secretary of State Rubio is accused of racking up over a million dollars in military flight costs for personal trips to watch his son's football games. Rubio's defiant response that he will keep doing it suggests no internal check is stopping him. The question is whether these stories will stick as symbols of a broader culture of entitlement or fade as background noise.