An infamous photo of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower shows him standing next to one of his large standing globes, which he preferred to the typical Mercator projection maps, which distort the relative size of countries. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's staff broke it.
The Washington Post revealed the shocking flub on Thursday, noting that the historic significance of the globes left previous occupants of the Pentagon office holding the artifacts with reverence. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force when the U.S. entered World War II. He then became First Military Governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany and several years later the 34th president of the United States. The replica globe's significance was not lost on Hegseth, so he wanted it.
"Ordinarily, moving historical items within the building is a deliberate process overseen by trained curators," the Washington Post explained. "Instead, Hegseth’s staff dispatched its own team to relocate an Eisenhower globe. They lost control of the artifact and dropped it, sending the globe crashing onto its base and impaling the fragile shell near Antarctica, according to those familiar with the incident. The resulting gash appears to be several inches wide."
A photo of the replica globe now reveals not a mere scratch, but a massive hole at the base of the globe.
When it asked for information, the Army acknowledged that the globe was damaged when it was being moved. It left out the extent of the damage and why the globe was being moved. The incident happened on Feb. 3, they revealed.
Aside from the hole, “the spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate,” spokesman Christopher Surridge said in an email.
They didn't move the globe after that. Surridge refused to answer questions about the "movers" and said Hegseth's office could answer them.
Hegseth apparently still wants the artifact in his office, so the Army, which now has the globe, is consulting experts on how to transport it safely. It's unclear whether it can be or will be repaired.
Experts at the U.S. Army Center of Military History were furloughed during a partial government shutdown when Hegseth's team moved the globe. The Hegseth staff decided to move it themselves, the Post's sources said.
"It is unclear why Hegseth’s team did not wait for experienced help to move the artifact during the partial government shutdown, which ended the same day the globe was damaged," the report explained.
One person familiar with the incident said that there was an “apparent lack of patience."
It has now become a running joke inside the Pentagon, with staff wasting no time gossiping and cracking jokes, with some calling it peak Hegseth, charging ahead like he was auditioning for a movie, all swagger and a little too much World War II cosplay.
