Washington Post Exposes Pentagon’s Secret Use of Military Influencers
A Washington Post report has revealed that the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon, has secretly appointed a number of influential military social media figures to civilian government posts to support the institution’s war policies.
According to the report, these individuals were brought into the government structure without their official duties being made public, while at the same time defending the decisions of U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media and in their writings, and attacking critics of the Donald Trump administration and the media.
The Washington Post said those involved include conservative veterans and retired officers with large followings on the platform X. Rob Manson, a retired Air Force colonel, has about 135,000 followers; Kurt Schlichter has about 620,000; and Thomas Anderson, under the pseudonym Cynical Publius, has more than 323,000.
The report said these figures continued posting tweets and articles in support of policies announced by Hegseth without disclosing their working relationship or financial ties to the Pentagon. The newspaper said this raised questions about transparency and the use of government resources to shape political opinion in public.
Sources cited in the report also said these individuals took part in field working groups, including a visit to the U.S. Army War College. According to the report, the aim of these activities was to eliminate opposing views and assess the loyalty of officials to Donald Trump.
The disclosure comes as the Pentagon had already faced criticism over the use of taxpayers’ money to fund partisan propaganda. The Pentagon is the U.S. Department of Defense and is responsible for managing the country’s armed forces.
