Dan Caldwell is a longtime adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The president was scheduled to sign executive orders at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Oval Office before presenting midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy at 3:30 p.m.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also held a press briefing at 1 p.m. in which she addressed the Trump administration’s recent immigration decisions and former President Joe Biden’s scheduled speech Tuesday night.
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been placed on administrative leave as part of a leak investigation, a U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House, April 10, 2025 in Washington.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Caldwell is a longtime adviser to Hegseth, long before he was named to be the secretary of defense, and was placed on leave following an “unauthorized disclosure,” Reuters reported.
On March 21, Joe Kasper, the Defense Department’s chief of staff, directed the “Director for Defense Intelligence (Counterintelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security) to support OSD in leading an investigation into unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and classified information across the Department of Defense.”
That memo authorized the use of polygraphs that will be inline with “applicable law and policy” for an investigation that he said would begin immediately.
It is unclear if Caldwell underwent a polygraph.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
1 hour and 41 minutes ago
Asked if Russia agreed to anything in its meeting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she didn’t want to get ahead of those negotiations but added that there is an “incentive” for Russia to end its war on Ukraine.
Trump spoke with the sultan of Oman Tuesday, who helped facilitate talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend, Leavitt confirmed during the briefing.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April, 15, 2025, in Washington.
“As you know, an additional negotiation between Steve Witkoff and Iran’s representative has been scheduled for Saturday. And since these are ongoing negotiations, I have nothing more to add on that,” she added.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
2 hours and 42 minutes ago
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt mocked former President Joe Biden when asked about his speech Tuesday night that is focused on protecting social security.
“My first reaction when seeing former President Biden was speaking tonight was I’m shocked that he is speaking at night time. I thought his bedtime was much earlier,” she said.
She then defended President Donald Trump’s Social Security policy.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt takes a question during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 15, 2025 in Washington.
“President Trump is absolutely certain about protecting Social Security benefits for law-abiding, taxpaying American citizens and seniors who have paid into this program,” she said.
2 hours and 54 minutes ago
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was pressed by reporters about the White House defying court orders to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the El Salvador prison where he is reportedly being held. She was asked by ABC News’ Karen Travers who is responsible for Abrego Garcia.
Leavitt claimed the administration is complying with court orders.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 15, 2025, in Washington.
She repeated unproven claims that the Maryland man was a member of MS-13 and involved in trafficking, citing the president and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
“There is never going to be a world in which this is an individual who’s going to live a peaceful life in Maryland,” Leavitt said.
