President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a senior strategic planner at the Pentagon who was dismissed over allegations of sharing classified material with journalists, is likely to face "big problems." Speaking at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before flying to a midterm campaign rally in South Carolina, the president said his administration is actively searching for people who disclose secrets, according to Fox News.
A Department of War official told Fox News that Sylvia passed classified information to reporters concerning the war with Iran, Russia's war in Ukraine and other sensitive subjects. The same official said Sylvia did not pass three polygraph examinations tied to the alleged disclosures, and that the matter has been handed to the Justice Department.
Why it matters
The case lands at a moment when the White House is balancing two pressures at once: an active military posture toward Iran and a midterm election season in which national security credentials are being contested. A public leak investigation involving a serving general gives both the administration and its critics a concrete dispute to argue over in the final stretch before voting.
It also raises questions about how the Pentagon handles sensitive planning while it is under scrutiny from within. The president's remarks, made in a brief exchange with reporters, suggest the inquiry is not closed and that further action may follow.
A firing, polygraphs and a referral
Fox News reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fired Sylvia, one of the military's senior strategic planners, over the leaking allegations. According to the department official who spoke to the network, the material involved covered the Iran conflict, the war in Ukraine and other matters the government considers sensitive.
The official also told Fox News that Sylvia failed three polygraph tests connected to the suspected disclosures. Polygraph results are generally not treated as conclusive evidence on their own, but they are frequently cited in federal leak investigations as one factor among several.
The referral to the Justice Department means the matter has moved beyond internal military discipline and into the realm of potential criminal prosecution. It is not clear from the reporting what specific charges, if any, are under consideration, and no charges have been announced.
What the president said
Trump's comments were brief. He told reporters that his administration is "very much looking for leakers," and he indicated that Sylvia would face serious consequences. He did not elaborate on what those consequences would be, and he did not confirm or deny details of the investigation beyond what officials had already described to Fox News.
The remarks came as the president was departing for a rally in South Carolina, one of several stops expected as the midterm elections approach. National security topics have often featured in campaign messaging, and the timing of the president's comments places the leak dispute in that political context.
The Iran backdrop
The reporting ties the alleged disclosures to planning around Iran, a subject that has drawn sustained attention as military options are prepared for the president's consideration. Fox News' source described the leaked material as covering that planning alongside Ukraine and other sensitive files.
The network's headline frames the broader story as military choices on Iran being readied for the president while midterms loom. The leak investigation is a separate thread, but the two intersect: the same planning that officials say was compromised is the planning now under discussion at the highest levels.
What to watch
Whether the Justice Department opens a formal case, and whether the Pentagon names a replacement for Sylvia's planning role, will indicate how far the administration intends to take the matter. For now, the public record rests on a department official's account given to Fox News and a short exchange between the president and reporters on the tarmac.
