Hegseth's Staff Damage Eisenhower-Era Globe at the Pentagon
Staff of US War Secretary Pete Hegseth damaged a World War II globe once used by Dwight Eisenhower while trying to move it. The US Army confirmed the incident happened on 3 February.
Staff from the office of US War Secretary Pete Hegseth damaged a historic globe at the Pentagon while trying to move it. The globe was made in the 1930s and is believed to have been used during World War II by Dwight Eisenhower, then a general and later US president. Hegseth reportedly wanted to display it in his office. Photographs of the damage were obtained by The Washington Post.
What happened
Sources told the newspaper that the globe, about 76 centimetres in diameter, tipped over onto its base and developed a crack several centimetres long. The US Army has acknowledged the damage and confirmed the incident occurred on 3 February. An Army spokesperson said the globe was never delivered to its intended destination.
It is one of two globes Eisenhower is believed to have used during the war. Army leadership officials are traditionally responsible for such items, and moving historic objects within the Pentagon normally involves professional museum specialists and collection curators. This time the task was handled by a team sent from Hegseth's office, according to the Irish Star and Mirror US.
Why specialists were not involved
The Army unit responsible for the globe had initially planned to consult experts from the Army Center of Military History on proper transport and documentation. However, those experts had been placed on unpaid furlough because of a partial federal government shutdown, caused by disagreements in Congress over the Trump administration's immigration policy. Hegseth's team decided to move the globe without their guidance, sources said. One source suggested the decision could indicate an "obvious lack of patience".
It remains unclear whether the order came from the secretary himself or another senior official in his office, or whether the staff had suitable equipment. Several years ago, a similar Eisenhower-linked globe was moved after being wrapped in protective material and placed in a shipping crate, then taken from a military history storage facility in Alabama to a nearby Army base.
Eisenhower (1890–1969) was the 34th US president, serving from 1953 to 1961, and led Allied operations in Europe during World War II.
