Washington, 31 March (H.S.): Allegations have surfaced that a broker for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to invest millions in a defense-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) weeks before the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran commenced on March 23, 2026. The Pentagon rejected the claims as entirely false and fabricated, calling for a retraction.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that in early February 2026—about six weeks prior to President Donald Trump's public endorsement of the strikes—Hegseth's broker at a major Wall Street firm contacted the operator of a $3.2 billion Nasdaq-listed ETF targeting defense industrials. The fund, launched in May 2025, invests in companies benefiting from rising global military expenditures amid geopolitical strife.

Top holdings include prominent US defense contractors such as RTX Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp.—key suppliers to the Department of Defense—alongside Palantir Technologies Inc. for security data services. The approach was noted internally due to the client's high profile, but the multimillion-dollar transaction fell through because the fund was unavailable to the brokerage's clients at that time.

The Pentagon's chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, fired back on social media platform X, minutes after the story emerged. This allegation is entirely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached [the fund operator] about any such investment, he stated.

These claims arise during heightened examination of financial trades preceding Trump's policy moves. Defense stocks and prediction markets have exhibited suspicious patterns before major announcements, sparking concerns over possible information leaks. The ETF in question rose 28% over the past year but declined nearly 13% in the month after the Iran conflict intensified.

Hegseth, a key strategist in the Iran campaign, has championed aggressive US posture. On March 23, 2026, at a Tennessee event marking the strikes' outset, Trump highlighted his role: Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said, 'Let's do it because you can't let them have a nuclear weapon,' with Hegseth in attendance.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar