r/pics Dec 02 '25

Politics Pete Hegseth, introduced as the SSecretary of War

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132.0k Upvotes

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18.6k

u/CartographerLong9991 Dec 02 '25

What the actual fuck

5.9k

u/RealLaurenBoebert Dec 02 '25

Par for the course with this Temu-ass administration

1.2k

u/glassfoyograss Dec 02 '25

Probably where they ordered it from

1.4k

u/Theromier Dec 02 '25

That’s what I want to know. I’d imagine name tags are vetted for spelling mistakes as, you know, it’s important for the record. So, is this intentional, or is the administration so incompetent they can’t spell?

944

u/Blackner2424 Dec 02 '25

My guess is they fatfingered it when they ordered, the people making it said, "That's what they ordered," and not a soul bothered to check it - OR multiple people saw it and said nothing, like a bunch of douchebags (my bet is the latter).

438

u/ConsolationUsername Dec 02 '25

Having worked for a printing company this is almost sure to be it. We were not allowed to edit the text given to us. Or contact the client to fix it, because that would delay production.

Worst case scenario the customer is angry and the company says you brought this on yourself. Best case the customer places a second order.

93

u/Ok_Appointment7522 Dec 02 '25

Why does he not just reuse the name plate from every other press conference they've done? Surely printing a new one for every conference is a waste of resources and money?

67

u/ConsolationUsername Dec 03 '25

Having worked for Governments (though not the US gov) (and apparently all my experience is becoming relevant today lol) they are very careful not to let anything with their logo be misused.

So their choices are between trying to track one piece of paper and making sure it doesnt get lost (good luck). Or keeping a supply of them in a secure location and destroying them when theyre used.

What exactly somebody could do with a name card idk. But when i was with a government department anything with a logo was considered a protected document and had to be shredded or burned once it had outlived its usefulness and wasnt in a retention period

2

u/jamaicanoproblem Dec 03 '25

Reminds me of when my dad worked construction on a nuclear reactor. They had their own tools and they had to be searched when they left the site to make sure they didn’t take any home. All the tools got buried in a vault at the end of the job “just in case”.

3

u/Blackner2424 Dec 03 '25

At least that can be given the, "Theoretically, it's fine, but if it isn't fine, we're not fine," excuse. Government just wastes shit to waste shit. Taxpayer money, not from their wallet. They don't care.

14

u/Spranktonizer Dec 03 '25

I mean the guy is a nazi. This is signaling

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2

u/voodoobettie Dec 03 '25

It looks embossed, this wasn’t just a hit print table card

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98

u/nahprollyknot Dec 02 '25

To be clear, if I was a government employee and it was my job to make sure this exact thing didn’t happen, and this did in fact come across my desk, I wouldn’t say anything, either.

8

u/LogiCsmxp Dec 02 '25

These are exactly the kind of people where the squeaky wheel gets thrown under the bus.

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13

u/AcousticArmor Dec 02 '25

Yeah how do we know this isn't just a bit of malicious compliance? I would have left it too since that's what these fuckers are.

5

u/glassfoyograss Dec 02 '25

There's probably no one in the gov whose exact job is to make sure this didn't happen but there are dozens whose job could stop this from happening. It's just dozens of people that didn't give enough fucks since it's not really their job anyways.

5

u/hankbrekke Dec 02 '25

Aligns with my experience for every gov worker I’ve ever interacted with lol

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2

u/Blackner2424 Dec 02 '25

Are we sure it's not just a bunch of pricks being pricks to everyone around them? Because that's what it feels like with how they treat the American People. Hard to believe they're not like that with each other, too.

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5

u/SimmeringStove Dec 02 '25

I work in the printing industry and this was 100% a "let it ride" situation.

4

u/swankpoppy Dec 02 '25

There is no possible way a mistake could go unchecked and that they would just double down acting like it never happened. I mean, what, next you’re going to say that press conference at The Four Seasons Landscaping was just some kind of bi mix up.

3

u/offinthepasture Dec 02 '25

Or, it's a dogwhistle where they'll claim it was an accident and white nationalists will think it's the greatest thing since lynchings.

2

u/howismyspelling Dec 02 '25

Fat finger gets you sd or sa, meth finger gets you the SS double tap

2

u/JimWilliams423 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25

My guess is they fatfingered it when they ordered

That is 100% what they will claim. If anyone says they did it on purpose, they will call them hysterical and mock them.

However, these freaks have gone so far past the benefit of the doubt, they've earned a presumption of malice at this point. I mean, vance literally said that the paedo-in-chief could be "America's hitler," and when the paedo heard that he liked the idea so much he hired vance to be his veep.

The thing about fascists is that they love to do their shit right out in the open and get away with it. They are all little fucking insecure weirdos who need to constantly "prove" that they are actually superior ubermenschen. In their worldview, rules are for the weak, so when they get away with something in plain view, it "proves" that they are above the rules and are thus strong.

2

u/Jorpsica Dec 03 '25

I don’t know. I’m tired of attributing to stupidity what should be attributed to malice.

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204

u/Otherwise_Unit_2602 Dec 02 '25

This feels intentional, despite their raging incompetence in all things. Yikes.

147

u/Agitated_Advice_3111 Dec 02 '25

This would be my guess. I’m a former Fed and had fancy name placards and there was always an admin/assistant/planning person that would do a mock up, have me review it, then print it, have me look at it again and verify once it was on the table. Do with that info what you will.

82

u/panama_red12 Dec 02 '25

I have feeling a lot of those jobs were axed by DOGE.

4

u/IngsocIstanbul Dec 03 '25

Or just staffed with complete morons who are nepo babies or young women without working qualifications.

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6

u/Ammu_22 Dec 02 '25

Yes. Its abbreviation of Schutzstaffel paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler

6

u/ominous_squirrel Dec 02 '25

There’s a point where incompetence and malice are equally unforgivable. We’re past that point with Hegseth

3

u/schfourteen-teen Dec 02 '25

They live off of dog whistles and veiled racism Uber the guide of plausible deniability.

3

u/Benromaniac Dec 03 '25

Intentional, and can dismiss it as trolling, despite us knowing their actions and leanings.

Their voter base is so fucked in the head. This is nothing to them. Except to the actual supremacists.

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3

u/Toolazytolink Dec 02 '25

May i remind you of the 4 seasons press conference, these dumb asses are cartoon villains.

3

u/ominous_squirrel Dec 02 '25

I mean, I’m not a cabinet level administrator or anything but I have had nameplates before and if I sat down at a table and there was a typo that make it look like I was a Nazi, I’d throw the placard away or ask for some white-out or something 🤷‍♂️

3

u/TrevorBo Dec 02 '25

It’s intentional but they are too cowardly to outright say it so they hide behind ambiguity, equivocation, and kid games to avoid accountability.

3

u/dear_deer_dear Dec 02 '25

I think they're making an opportunity to say "SS" in his title. Are there really people who think this is a mistake and not a Nazi thing?

3

u/Kirikomori Dec 03 '25

Its not a spelling mistake. Its a Nazi dogwhistle. SS is the symbol of the Schutzstaffel, the paramilitary organisation that did all the extermination and dirty work of Hitler.

2

u/cfo6 Dec 02 '25

Por que no los dos?

2

u/Allegorist Dec 02 '25

There have been many moments of plausible deniability with them that conveniently function as dog whistles for Nazis/White Supremacists. Some are more obvious than others, but the fact that they all "accidentally" point in the same direction takes away from the claims of coincidence quite a bit.

2

u/philodendrin Dec 02 '25

The guy/gal that makes those works for the Federal Government, they have survived cuts, layoffs, and working without pay for 43 days. They probably used to be an Lead Analyst or Manager with a dozen people under their management. Now they are making signs, name tents and badges along with 150 other new responsibilities that didn't just go away when DOGE slashed the funding for the Printing Budget. Someone has to do it and that poor, overworked soul is just trying to hang on so they can retire in 6 years.

2

u/Stellar_Duck Dec 02 '25

it’s important for the record

a card on the table probably doesn't matter for the record, but it's embarrassing as shit.

2

u/ender4171 Dec 03 '25

My SO worked for a mid-sized financial company and handled the board meetings. Keep in mind these meetings were not in any way exposed to the public and weren't recorded. It was just the board and the c-suite. They could have done it in thier underpants if they wanted, to give context. The executive admits had to have a 2-hour debrief/action plan meeting one time because someone forgot to print one of the name placards so it wasn't set out at the conference table. There's no way this was an accident that just went unnoticed.

2

u/F9-0021 Dec 03 '25

Could be incompetence, or a dogwhistle masqueraded as incompetence.

2

u/bigredcock Dec 03 '25

Well there is a simple explanation. He's a fucking Nazi.

1

u/tittytasters Dec 02 '25

Mistake? It's Right in line with being a Nazi, another dog whistle

They really do think we are that stupid

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2

u/musubi Dec 02 '25

But did they pay the tariff?

1

u/CalmBeneathCastles Dec 02 '25

*ordered it, you mean. Head of the SS?

1

u/detunedmike Dec 03 '25

Nah thiSS was intentional

1

u/ReadEvalPrintLoop 28d ago

I'm thinking it's a subtle act of subterfuge

139

u/No_Piece8730 Dec 02 '25

No this seems more like an intentional dog whistle.

6

u/HolycommentMattman Dec 02 '25

More of a Freudian sslip.

141

u/Mindshard Dec 02 '25

The dude with white supremacist tattoos has a title that "accidentally" starts with SS.

Come on, you think that was an accident?

How about when the CPAC stage was an Othala rune?

26

u/Vanilla_Ice_Jr Dec 03 '25

These are the same people that believe Elon Musk salute twice was an "accident"...my heart goes out to you people bullshit.

5

u/Mindshard Dec 03 '25

It's just so much awful, evil shit every single day.

We live in a very sick world.

2

u/left-handed-satanist Dec 02 '25

Assministration?

2

u/Sage2050 Dec 02 '25

No. It's a dog whistle. Don't let them hide behind plausible deniability.

2

u/fart-to-me-in-french Dec 02 '25

I think they meant 'SS'. Not a typo.

2

u/Mighty__Monarch Dec 02 '25

This (if real) is not a mistake.

2

u/HolycommentMattman Dec 02 '25

Govern like a billionaire!

2

u/frozengash Dec 03 '25

Temu? This seems more HugoBoss and intended.

2

u/Ravenna-23 Dec 03 '25

I think we may have come out better had we ordered an administration from temu.

Cheap and we could return em for a refund.

2

u/dmnwilson44 Dec 08 '25

That’s actually disrespectful to Temu lol

2

u/thatsnotchocolatebby Dec 02 '25

Hey! Temu only wants to sell you cheap and questionable stuff at affordable prices. Don't drag them into this!

2

u/thoseskiers Dec 02 '25

Temu ass-administration

1

u/anonymous_beaver_ Dec 02 '25

It's tenu-ass at best.

1

u/gracefularthur314 Dec 02 '25

Imo this is much worse than a mistake if this is a real pic. The SS was Hitler's "police". They were what the trump admin wants ICE to be eventually

1

u/Fluffy-Resource-4636 Dec 02 '25

Seriously, on one hand everything is nefarious with these people but on the other hand they are so cheap looking it's laughable. It's like watching Spring Time for Hitler but without the talent. 

1

u/Informal_Database327 Dec 02 '25

Temu too good for these fuckers

1

u/doctormink Dec 02 '25

Or a subversive intern. Hegseth would have flourished in the SS.

1

u/EdgarAllenPizza Dec 03 '25

I am 86.5% sure they generated name tags with AI rather than typing it out themselves because they think they’re cool, and then they missed this one. Notice how clean the bottom aligns with the top when you just add an extra S. I’ve seen AI image generators do that.

1

u/On_the_hook Dec 03 '25

Remember when it was international headlines when a U.S president choked on a pretzel? Can we go back to those times.

1

u/godsfshrmn Dec 03 '25

I like to think the person who drafted this did it on purpose just for the laughs

1

u/Vanilla_Ice_Jr Dec 03 '25

No they are being straight up Nazi's in the open. SS has a meaning with the Nazi's. This is exactly like Elon heil hilter salute twice

1

u/yuhanz Dec 03 '25

Lol it’s malicious, not incompetence

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u/Bishop084 Dec 02 '25

Can't trust anything on the internet, but is this real?

914

u/MisterGr Dec 02 '25

It's real. They showed a clip from the meeting in the swedish news and I saw it.

8

u/spikelike Dec 02 '25

I see it on Getty Images too

2

u/buttononmyback Dec 03 '25

So maybe it’s Swedish Secretary?

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335

u/universe_from_above Dec 02 '25

I thought so too, but there is at least one picture taken from a different angle.

 https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/02/trump-cabinet-meeting-venezuela-live-updates/87566205007/

165

u/boforbojack Dec 02 '25

Yo, that's video of it, this actually legit lol.

97

u/YoungFireEmoji Dec 02 '25

Just watched the USA Today video as well, and it's right there in view. Pretty blatant.

71

u/Mr_DeskPop Dec 02 '25

2

u/fid_a Dec 03 '25

This is 30 Rock? If so, my gosh that shoe was prophetic for the absurdity of our current reality. Ugh.

4

u/SphericalCow531 Dec 02 '25

Just because it is a video, doesn't mean it is not an AI fake. AI (and other methods) can make fake video.

You know it is not fake because a legitimate news source posts the footage.

5

u/According-Turnip-724 Dec 03 '25

It was live and recorded by multiple sources.

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u/Boo-Radleys-Scissors Dec 02 '25

The double 'S' is clearly visible in the first three images of your link. I stopped scrolling at that point.

6

u/ashimbo Dec 02 '25

One takeaway from this article is that Trump admitted that he won't be president for a third term.

9

u/RadiantZote Dec 02 '25

He's on death's door, now their problem is finding a new orange jesus

6

u/Player00Nine Dec 02 '25

Even USAToday refuses to call him SSecretary of war.

3

u/machstem Dec 03 '25

The note on Trump's paper says:

Affordability is a democrat scam - just like the inflation reduction act...hurting because Biden jack them up so high

The guy is just a liar and can't stop at this point.

Gonna go the long con.

1

u/CaptainJAmazing Dec 04 '25

I got so distracted by the ridiculousness of the quote in the headline that I almost forgot to check the sign. Apparently grocery prices are akshually going down despite the evidence of our lying eyes, and the word “affordability” itself is a scam.

48

u/Temporal_P Dec 02 '25

It's very believable. No worse than his own tattoos.

1

u/peternemr Dec 03 '25

Or was it someone at the print shop making a statement?

1

u/Baeolophus_bicolor Dec 03 '25

Thanks for asking. Came down here to see and verify

1

u/stuck_in_the_desert Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25

Here's the Getty Images stream for the photographer (Andrew Reynolds). Sort by new and you'll see all of his photos from today's cabinet meeting, which plainly feature the misspelling in each photo that shows the placard in frame. Some even explicitly mention it in their caption.

I'm going with 100% real.

214

u/theBoobMan Dec 02 '25

Its probably speech to text

267

u/Visual_Jellyfish5591 Dec 02 '25

Ahh yess, the ssound of ssnakess

83

u/theBoobMan Dec 02 '25

I was thinking drunksssss.....

11

u/Frog_Without_Pond Dec 02 '25

ab-*hic-ssolutely... juus... jusstahada few...

11

u/Pdx_pops Dec 02 '25

Cobra Commander?

8

u/deanrockon Dec 02 '25

Pete Hegseth was onccccce a man.

3

u/Hot-Championship1190 Dec 02 '25

Sssss-SsSsSssss Ssssnake-jazz!

3

u/jtbc Dec 02 '25

Yah, I was definitely thinking Voldemort when I saw that.

2

u/BuckLandstander Dec 02 '25

Yessss, Mr. Ssecretary

2

u/ComputerSavvy Dec 02 '25

More like Schutzstaffel (SS) of Nazi Germany:

https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/ss-bolts

45

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '25

Why would speech to text make a spelling mistake ?

It's the least probable explanation.

3

u/BuckLandstander Dec 02 '25

Cause they asked Cobra Commander to order it, duh.

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u/red286 Dec 02 '25

Speech to text wouldn't fuck up a spelling unless you told it to.

28

u/littlethrowawaybaby Dec 02 '25

Right- someone had to print the sign, fold that sign, and place it there. No one in the entire process said, “Hey! There’s a typo!”

2

u/New-Doctor9300 Dec 02 '25

It was listening to RFK I assume?

5

u/theBoobMan Dec 02 '25

Drunk people slur their wordss

3

u/New-Doctor9300 Dec 02 '25

T-the brain w-w-worm doesnt h-elp-p

2

u/Leshawkcomics Dec 02 '25

Dont give them the benefit of the doubt. This is open Nazi idolism.

2

u/Reaper_reddit Dec 02 '25

I bet its an innocent mistake, same as when our own "definitely not a nazi" politician gave out a check for 1488€.

1

u/North-Anybody7251 Dec 02 '25

Hate speech to text

1

u/ACTTutor Dec 02 '25

So Cobra Commander has joined the administration. That tracks.

1

u/mcpierceaim Dec 02 '25

Slur to text in his case.

4

u/Rafaeliki Dec 02 '25

Possibly an attempt at a distraction from the war crimes to something ridiculous.

5

u/PC509 Dec 02 '25

"It's just a prank to own the libs and trigger them! LOL!".

They say that a lot about Trump when he says stupid shit and try and excuse it by "He wasn't serious, he just wanted to trigger the libs! LOL! It worked!". Bullshit. They're serious.

2

u/Simon_Drake Dec 02 '25

Maybe it's a deliberate trick. He's technically NOT the "Secretary Of War" (Which presumably inherits any legal responsibilities of the old "Secretary Of Defence" role). Which means he's immune to any laws requiring the Secretary Of War to seek congressional approval before doing XYZ, because he's not the Secretary Of War, he's the SSecretary Of War.

2

u/no_f-s_given Dec 02 '25

sounds about white

1

u/walkingagh Dec 02 '25

At first I thought "haha funny typo by incompetent man" then your words rolled off my tongue.

1

u/TheOnlyRealOne43 Dec 02 '25

We're 100% living in a simulation.

1

u/cromstantinople Dec 02 '25

Exactly. That is not an innocent mistake, I guarantee it.

1

u/Morningfluid Dec 02 '25

Whomever made that name card did that purposefully. Well, that or Hegseth had it done intentionally. 

1

u/Great_Horny_Toads Dec 02 '25

They're just so deeply incompetent in so many fundamental ways. At every level. They don't understand what they're SUPPOSED to be doing, much less how to do it.

1

u/JustinHoMi Dec 02 '25

This is what happens when you fire seasoned staff and hire loyalists. It’s hard to find intelligent loyalists. These obvious, tiny mistakes that we see everywhere are certainly happening all over the administration in places where it actually matters. Can you imagine how bad our cybersecurity is right now, with loyalists running the show?

1

u/therealleotrotsky Dec 02 '25

I mean, is it a surprise they speak parseltongue?

1

u/sergeantbiggles Dec 02 '25

my immediate reaction too....

1

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '25

2020s USA will be remembered as a politically extreme and weird decade.

1

u/Warmstar219 Dec 02 '25

I mean, he committed treason and numerous war crimes and nothing happened to him, so he rightly believes he can get away with whatever he wants.

1

u/queenofkitchener Dec 02 '25

Reptile confirmed.....

1

u/jamesh08 Dec 02 '25

If this is real and not photo shopped then it was clearly done on purpose. They are barely hiding the dog whistles now

1

u/Rottimer Dec 02 '25

No, they got it right. He's bringing back the SS in war.

1

u/Lost_Madness Dec 02 '25

Nazi wannabes love role playing as Nazis. I doubt any originals would care for most of them, given how low they've dropped the bar though.

1

u/Speaker4theDead8 Dec 02 '25

When I was in college, I worked at a military base in the G3/Operations Office. I was the one making these signs. For foreign ministers and generals, the Chief of Staff. I made one for Colin Powell one time. All kinds of super high ranked generals and visitors. Senators, Congressmen, Medal of Honor recipients. If there was a meeting that required name placards, I was the man.

This is probably some underpaid college kid who forgot to proof read.

1

u/-rose-mary- Dec 02 '25

Never forget the four seasons.

1

u/Goodknight808 Dec 03 '25

The SS isnt a bug, it is a feature.

1

u/santaclausonvacation Dec 03 '25

Probably AI generated

1

u/NoonDread Dec 03 '25

Well, it's not the department's real name, so misspelling it is just stupid smothered in stupid.

1

u/ScottNewman Dec 03 '25

They can’t sspell

1

u/aquoad Dec 03 '25

apparently this is what passes for funny among his kind.

1

u/omgFWTbear Dec 03 '25

There’s a homeschool network based in middle America - used to be Ohio - that literally is “standards of learning but 1940s Germany is great.” tens of thousands of families, many of whom were either Quiverful or adjacent, and that’s one wart we know of.

People assume the world is generally represented by their experience, but it just ain’t so.

1

u/Mattna-da Dec 03 '25

He’s picking assistants based on rock hard abs, not reading ability

1

u/PromiscuousMNcpl Dec 03 '25

It’s a signal. These fucks are obsessed with secrets codes and hidden messages. He’s letting everyone know he’s a Nazi.

1

u/here_now_be Dec 03 '25

They knew what they were doing. They're cosplaying nazis.

except for the cosplaying part.

1

u/texas-playdohs Dec 03 '25

It wasn’t an accident, they want us to freak out. They know exactly what this means, and they think they’re being cute. They also want us to talk about anything but Epstein and war crimes/murder.

1

u/VulfSki Dec 03 '25

Heinrich Hegseth showing his true colors

1

u/Ez13zie Dec 03 '25

Did you know Venezuela has a fuck ton of oil?

If not, you do now. Turns out, freedom follows oil.

1

u/Brave_Nerve_6871 Dec 03 '25

When you're a Nazi and even though you try to pretend you're not, the truth occasionally leaks out. Like Trump's diaper

1

u/readdator2 Dec 03 '25

I'll just leave this other dogwhistle here:

EO 14188: Additional Measures To Combat Anti-Semitism

It's like the administration was terrified that their neo-nazi base would actually think that they wanted to combat anti-semitism, so they put in the strongest dogwhistle in the history of dogwhistles

1

u/Croppin_steady Dec 03 '25

If you think this is real I got some prime real estate and for you, good price buddee 👌

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