Pete Hegseth’s aides damaged a 30-inch Eisenhower Globe in February while trying to move it inside the Pentagon. The globe was not placed in his office after the failed relocation, and it is now undergoing repair.
Dwight D Eisenhower and the globe
The globe was said to have been used by Dwight D Eisenhower as he plotted the D-day landings as allied supreme commander. Hegseth had asked for one of two similar artifacts dating to the 1930s and housed in the Pentagon to be placed in his office.
A US army spokesperson said the damage occurred during “an attempted move.” The aides decided to transport the globe themselves instead of using specialist movers.
Photographs of the damage
One photograph showed fragments of the globe below its wooden frame on a blue hallway carpet. A second photograph showed an inches-wide gash in the bottom of the globe with its base punched through.
The spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate. That left the item damaged during the move and kept it out of Hegseth’s office.
Repair after the February move
A spokesperson for the war department said: “An accident occurred while staff were transporting a replica of the Eisenhower globe as part of its relocation.” Another account described the globe as a priceless historic artifact and said, “They lost control of the artifact and dropped it, sending the globe crashing on to its base and impaling the fragile shell near Antarctica.”
That difference in description is central to the episode: one account treats it as a replica, while the other describes the same object as priceless and historic. In practical terms, the move failed and the globe is now in repair rather than on display in Hegseth’s office.
