Pete Hegseth indicated he might place arbitrary takeout orders to disrupt speculation that delivery spikes coincide with military actions.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth stated he might begin ordering large amounts of pizza to the Pentagon to confuse those monitoring delivery patterns.
During a Fox News interview on Sunday, Hegseth addressed a meme connecting increases in pizza orders to potential military operations.
The so-called “pizza index” has evolved into an online joke, with social media users guessing that delivery spikes near the US military HQ could indicate forthcoming operations – or simply late-night strategy sessions. The X account Pentagon Pizza Report has over 254,300 followers, and a website called Pentagon Pizza Index tracks six nearby pizza shops using Google Maps data.
“I’m aware of that account,” said Hegseth, a former Fox News host who assumed the role of defense secretary last year.
“Next time there’s going to be an airstrike. Have you guys thought about maybe just going to the cafeteria?” the Fox News reporter inquired.
The war secretary responded with a laugh: “I haven’t thought of just going to the cafeteria. I’ve thought of just ordering lots of pizza on random nights.”
The defense chief stressed that the intention is to obscure any discernible pattern that could be linked to military activity.
“Some Friday night when you see a bunch of Domino’s orders, it might just be me on an app, throwing the whole system off so we keep everybody off balance,” Hegseth added. “Trust me, we look at every indicator,” he said.
A delivery surge was noted during Israel’s June strike on Iran, in which Washington participated. The attack targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, resulting in significant damage and numerous deaths. Approximately one hour before Iranian state TV reported explosions in Tehran, pizza orders near the military HQ had already risen sharply, according to Pentagon Pizza Report.
“As of 6:59 p.m. ET nearly all pizza establishments near the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity,” the account, which purports to provide “hot intel” on “late-night activity spikes,” posted at the time.
Deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989 and increased again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.