{"id":123397,"date":"2026-04-01T09:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=123397"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:28:28","slug":"pentagon-denies-hegseths-broker-wanted-to-invest-in-arms-before-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/123397\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon denies Hegseth\u2019s broker wanted to invest in arms before war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON(National Times)- The United States Department of Defence has called for the withdrawal of a newspaper report alleging that a broker linked to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a significant investment in weapons companies ahead of the war with Iran,\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded an \u201cimmediate\u201d retraction after the Financial Times<\/em> reported that a wealth manager for the defence secretary approached BlackRock to make a multimillion-dollar inves\u00adtment in a defence-focused fund in the weeks leading up to the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Financial Times<\/em>, Hegseth\u2019s broker at Mor\u00adgan Sta\u00adn\u00adley ultimately did not proceed with the investment in the exchange-traded fund \u2014 which includes holdings such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman \u2014 because it was not yet available for purchase at the time, citing three unnamed sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis allegation is entirely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock abo\u00ad\u00ad\u00adut any such investment,\u201d Parnell said in a post on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth and his department \u201cremain unwavering in their commitment to the highest standards of ethics and strict adherence to all applicable laws and regulations\u201d, Parnell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Jazeera<\/em> could not independently confirm the Financial Times report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stand by our reporting and have included a Pentagon spo\u00ad\u00adkesperson\u2019s response in the article,\u201d an FT<\/em> spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defence Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of usual business hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BlackRock declined to comm\u00ade\u00ad\u00adnt. Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to inquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report comes amid scrutiny of well-timed trades in financial and prediction markets that have prompted speculation that figures with insider knowledge may be profiting off of US Presi\u00addent Donald Trump\u2019s war plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Financial Times<\/em> reported that the attempted investment by Hesgeth\u2019s broker did not go ahead, the defence chief would not have made money on such a purchase in the month since the war began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the iShares Defence Industrials Active ETF has risen more than 25 per cent over the past year, it has fallen nearly 13pc since the US and Israel launched<\/a> strikes on Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON(National Times)- The United States Department of Defence has called for the withdrawal of a newspaper report alleging that a broker linked to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a significant investment in weapons companies ahead of the war with Iran,\u00a0Al Jazeera\u00a0reported. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded an \u201cimmediate\u201d retraction after the Financial Times reported that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nPentagon denies Hegseth\u2019s broker wanted to invest in arms before war - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/123397\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon denies Hegseth\u2019s broker wanted to invest in arms before war - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON(National Times)- The United States Department of Defence has called for the withdrawal of a newspaper report alleging that a broker linked to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a significant investment in weapons companies ahead of the war with Iran,\u00a0Al Jazeera\u00a0reported. 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