Abandoning Aspen: Defense Department Leaders Pull Out of Event Dominated by Left-Wing Elites

It is long past time that Republicans and all rational Americans stop giving these radical destroyers the imprimatur of legitimacy.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the DoD withdraw ALL Pentagon speakers from the globalist Aspen Security Forum, one day before the event

What a move.

“Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,” said Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell.

BREAKING: Trump’s @SecDef Pete Hegseth just pulled the Pentagon out of the Aspen Security Forum—

Because it promotes “the EVIL of globalism” and “disdain for our great country.”

Here’s what just happened pic.twitter.com/isjqVPY7PT

— Rod D. Martin (@RodDMartin) July 15, 2025

ust the News: The Pentagon has pulled roughly a dozen high-ranking U.S. military officials who had been slated to participate in this week’s annual Aspen Security Forum, Just the News has learned. The Defense Department cited the left-wing nature of the Aspen Institute and the participation of such critics of President Trump as Biden administration National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The annual forum put on by the Aspen Institute – which has been dubbed “the mountain retreat for the liberal elite” – describes the event as “the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States.” Roughly a dozen top Defense Department officials – including the secretary of the Navy and the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command – are still listed as speakers on the Aspen Security Forum agenda this week, but a source told Just the News over the weekend that that will no longer happen (Just the News). Eric Daugherty, quoting Sean Parnell: “Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,” @SeanParnellATSD said (Daugherty).