A rumor circulating online in February 2025 claimed Pete Hegseth, U.S. President Donald Trump's defense secretary, drank alcohol from a clear cup while standing behind a lectern at a news conference. The news conference occurred during a NATO meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 13.
One of most shared videos promoting the rumor showed Hegseth, a combat veteran and former "Fox & Friends Weekend" host, reaching down behind his lectern for a cup while listening to a question from Axios' director of news, Zachary Basu. For example, two posts on X that featured the clip received more than 15 million combined views. Users on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Threads, TikTok, Truth Social and X also shared other videos and still images showing Hegseth taking sips from the cup during other moments, as well as talking about the supposedly brown and darkened appearance of the liquid.
However, no credible evidence existed to confirm the rumor that Hegseth drank alcohol at his NATO news conference. Reviewing available videos showed the liquid in the cup had a clear appearance, and no credible data suggested it was anything other than water. Videos demonstrated that the liquid seemed darker only momentarily because Hegseth's fingers behind the glass created that illusion. Some users further alleged the liquid in the cup could have been vodka or another clear type of alcohol, without offering any additional proof.
The Defense Press Operations office at the Pentagon and the NATO Press Office did not respond within several hours to a request for comment. (NATO, based in Brussels, received the request later in the evening, after standard daytime hours.) We will update this post if they respond.
The context of why users alleged Hegseth consumed alcohol during the news conference concerned his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 14. During the hearing, he faced tough questions about allegations involving past excessive drinking — including drinking on the job — as well as marital infidelity and sexual assault. He characterized some of the allegations as a "smear campaign." He also vowed not to drink alcohol if confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
A closer look at the rumor
One piece of media online users shared to promote the rumor about Hegseth drinking alcohol at the NATO meeting's news conference concerned a still image captured from the Fox News TV show "America's Newsroom." The still frame showed Hegseth preparing to take a sip from the clear cup while standing behind the lectern. Users misleadingly claimed the image displayed the liquid in the cup with a brown, darkened appearance, for example similar to bourbon, Scotch or whiskey.
This Facebook post displayed the in-question moment from the still image. Hegseth never made these statements, nor did he specifically stand behind a "podium."
The Internet Archive's TV News Archive website hosted the same clip from when Fox News aired part of Hegseth's news conference live.
The Associated Press published a YouTube video of the entire news conference shot from a different camera angle. The clip shows Hegseth taking six separate sips from the cup at the 2:58, 9:56, 13:45, 19:24, 26:08 and 28:36 marks. Lead Stories also made note of the same video.
Other users made light of the fact that Hegseth mispronounced and then corrected his pronunciation of the word "guaranteed" during an answer to a question, as if the moment stood as enough evidence to confirm the rumor of him drinking alcohol out of the cup.
The Department of Defense published a transcript of Hegseth's remarks, as well as questions from journalists in the room and his answers.
For further reading, we reported the facts about another rumor claiming Hegseth crashed a tank into the Pentagon. We also published the facts about Hegseth's past remarks regarding his view of the role of women in combat.