On Dec. 2, 2025, during the final White House Cabinet meeting of the year, eagle-eyed viewers noticed what appeared to be a curious spelling error on one of the placards. According to images and screenshots shared of the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's title was misspelled on his placard, reading "Ssecretary of War."
Snopes readers shared an image of Hegseth seated behind the apparently misspelt placard and asked us to ascertain whether the error was real. Some readers even suggested the "SS" was "giving Nazi."
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office shared what appeared to be a screenshot from a video of Hegseth speaking with his name card in front of him revealing the apparent spelling error. The office posted the image with the caption: "What does the 'SS' stand for? Interesting!"
The misspelling was indeed real. We found the error in the footage of the meeting posted by the White House, as well as in photographs published on Getty Images by various photojournalists covering the event. As such, we rate this claim true.
The "SS" evoking the Nazi Schutzstaffel paramilitary organization in Germany during World War II was likely unintentional. Whatever the reason for the spelling error, other members of the Cabinet did not have such misspellings on their placards. We reached out to the White House to learn more and will update this story if we get more information.
We looked closely at the White House's YouTube video of the entire Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2. Hegseth's placard is visible at various points during his remarks, and can be seen at the 33:24 mark and after the 35:00 mark when the camera zooms out.
Close-up photographs taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Andrew Caballero-Reynolds and Getty Images photographer Chip Somodevilla showed the misspelling more clearly. The AFP photograph caption states:
The word Secretary is misspelled on the nameplate of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a Cabinet Meeting hosted by President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC on December 2, 2025.
(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Hegseth was defending the September 2025 U.S. follow-up missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, which reportedly had shipwrecked survivors. During the Cabinet meeting, Hegseth said he did not watch the entire operation or "personally see survivors" but said a second strike that sank the boat was "the right call" and part of the "fog of war."
Trump issued an executive order in September 2025 to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, though legally renaming it requires an act of Congress.
We have reported on numerous claims about Hegseth, including the rumor he authored a memo canceling the military's support of Scouting America because the Scouts no longer promoted "masculine values" and the satirical claim that he poked his own eye with a mascara brush.