Fact Check: Did Pete Hegseth's team break Eisenhower’s historic globe in Pentagon?

WASHINGTON, DC: A viral rumor circulating on social media platforms claims Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team broke one of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s historic globes while attempting to move it into Hegseth’s office. The claim has sparked criticism and speculation online, prompting a fact check.

Claim: Pete Hegseth's team broke Dwight D. Eisenhower's historic globe

The viral claim surfaced as a post on X this month that claimed Hegseth's team accidentally damaged a historic artifact in the Pentagon while a crew attempted to move it into his office.

The viral post read, “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted a historic World War II-era globe associated with Dwight D. Eisenhower moved to his Pentagon office. On February 3, his staff tried moving it without professional curators, who were furloughed during a government shutdown. They dropped the globe, puncturing its shell and breaking its rotating mount. The damaged artifact was never relocated.”

The post has garnered hundreds of thousands of views, evoking mixed reactions from online users. While many appeared to believe the claim, a few others dismissed it as fake and called for a fact check.

Fact Check: The claim is true and happened in February this year

The claim is indeed true and has been confirmed by the officials at the Pentagon.

However, the incident was not recent; it happened in February, and it came to light this month after a report by The Washington Post citing sources "familiar with the incident," according to which an unnamed source, not the Pentagon, provided the photographs included in the report.  

According to the report, instead of "trained curators" relocating the object, "Hegseth's staff dispatched its own team to relocate an Eisenhower globe" on February 3. 

The report described the incident, stating that Hegseth's team "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."  

An official from the department confirmed the report, stating, “An accident occurred while staff were transporting a replica of the Eisenhower globe as part of its relocation."

"Accidents happen; we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired. Unsurprisingly, the Washington Post is once again dedicating time to another inconsequential non-story.”