Vice President JD Vance has stepped in to clarify Secretary of War Pete Hegseth‘s tie choice after many pointed out that the colors were that of Russia’s flag. Hegseth wore a red, blue, and white tie to the Friday meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the Friday meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.(AP)
The color of Hegseth’s tie being the same as that of the Russian flag was even reported on by TASS, the Russian state-owned news agency. The publication noted that his tie featured bold stripes in white, blue, and red, which were arranged in the same order as on Russia’s national flag.
Now, VP Vance has offered a counter-explanation. He wrote on X, “Or maybe he was wearing the colors of America.”
Notably, the US flag also has the same color combination of red, white, and blue, but TASS in its reporting acknowledged that, while adding that the sequence of the colors, and the design is what made the tie so striking.
Despite a clarification from the second-highest position in the US government, many online were not convinced.
Hegseth’s tie colors still compared to Russia flag online
Many on X continued to draw comparisons between Hegseth’s tie and Russia’s flag. “Pete Hegseth wore a RUSSIAN FLAG TIE to his meeting with Trump & Zelenskyy. Even Russian State TV is calling it out!,” a person wrote.
Another replying to Vance’s post, said, “Hegseth’s tie is white, blue, red – Russia.” Yet another person remarked, “For a meeting with Zelensky to discuss the Ukraine Russia conflict Hegseth chose to wear a tie in the colours of the Russian flag. If mere chance it shows a shocking disregard for detail & diplomacy; if deliberate it shows petty provocation more fitting to a child than a grown up.”
After the meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy said it was productive, where they discussed security guarantees. “We trust that Trump wants to finish this war,” he said, as per Reuters.