A 30-inch Eisenhower globe, one of two 1930s floor globes at the Pentagon, was dropped during a move to the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Army confirmed.
The Washington Post reports that Hegseth's staff sent their own team instead of specialist movers, although curators normally oversee such moves.
The Army says the globe is being repaired, but neither the cost nor who will pay has been disclosed.
Staff at the U.S. Army Center of Military History were furloughed during a partial government shutdown, according to two sources cited by the Post.
The Washington Post reported on 22 October that staff for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broke a Pentagon globe while trying to move it into his office. The object is one of two 30-inch floor globes housed in the building, which the newspaper says Dwight D. Eisenhower used during the Second World War. People familiar with its lineage told the Post that an accompanying plaque dates both globes to the 1930s. Hegseth was drawn to the globe because of its historical value, and his staff asked that one of the pair be placed in the secretary's office.
Normally, moves of historical items inside the building are overseen by trained curators. Hegseth's staff instead sent their own team, bypassing specialist movers. The team lost control of the artifact and dropped it, and the globe crashed onto its base. The fragile shell was punctured near Antarctica, leaving a gash the Post says appears to be several inches wide.
The Army told the Post that the globe was damaged during an "attempted move" on 3 February. Asked about the damage, Army spokesman Christopher Surridge pointed to a second problem beyond the hole in the shell.
“The spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate.”
Surridge also said the damaged relic was not relocated in the end. Pentagon officials had earlier declined the Post's request to photograph the globe or examine it in person, so the newspaper obtained images of the damage from its own sources. Asked who the movers were, Surridge referred the Post to Hegseth's office.
The Army office holding the globe had planned to consult the U.S. Army Center of Military History on safe transport and on documenting the new location. The history staffers, however, were furloughed during a partial government shutdown that stemmed from a dispute in Congress. According to two people the Post spoke to, the team went ahead without them. Those sources spoke on condition of anonymity to describe an incident the Post says is viewed as an embarrassment within the Defense Department.
The Army said the globe was not moved and is being repaired, but the cost of the repair and who will pay for it have not been disclosed. After the Post published its report, the department issued a short statement saying it was grateful that nobody was hurt and that the globe is being repaired. Hegseth has a documented interest in military history and has boasted of instilling a warrior ethos in the US military since his January 2025 confirmation. Spokespeople for the defense secretary did not respond to the Post's request for comment, so his account of the move is not part of the reporting.
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Staff of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dropped a 30-inch floor globe linked to Dwight D. Eisenhower while trying to move it to his office, the Washington Post reported. The Army confirmed the damage, which occurred on 3 February.
AI text based on reports by rmf24.pl, The Guardian, N-tv and other publishers. Published .