Watters Makes Plea To Trump Admin After Friend ‘DOGE’ed’ In Pentagon Cuts

Fox News host Jesse Watters made a direct appeal on-air for the Trump administration to be "less callous" in handling layoffs of federal employees after learning that a military veteran friend had been "DOGE’d" in Pentagon staff reductions.

A report from Wednesday indicated that the Defense Department had compiled a list of probationary employees for the Trump administration, identifying them as potential candidates for upcoming federal workforce cuts.

During an episode of The Five, Watters shared the story of his friend, a veteran who had served in the military for 20 years. This friend had recently taken on a new role at the Pentagon and was still within his probationary period when he learned this week that his position would be eliminated as part of DOGE’s initiatives.

“Let me tell you a story about Chris. Chris was a guy I met at a shooting event in New Jersey,” Watters began.

“Was Chris in the interview or another guy? Male or female?” panelist Harold Ford Jr., a former Democratic congressman from Tennessee, quipped.

“Let me finish,” Watters responded jokingly after a brief pause. “A 20-year veteran of the U.S. military, one of the guys who has taken down a lot of bad guys. He put his life on the line. He finished his military service after two decades and had only been working at the Pentagon for a few months. Because he was still in his probationary period, he just found out he’s probably going to get laid off. He’s going to get DOGE’d.”

Watters continued: “He texted me and said: ‘Jesse, this is not good. I’m really sad. I’m upset.’ This guy is not a DEI consultant. He is not a climate consultant. This guy is a veteran. So when you’re talking about DOGE-ing people, veterans should get priority. If you’re willing to put your life on the line to take out America’s enemies, you should not be in the same category as people focused on DEI.”

Turning to Ford Jr., Watters remarked: “Now, Harold and his ilk like to talk about the slash-and-burn corporate ethos – he just needs to be a little bit less callous with the way, Harold, we talk about DOGE-ing people. I want that to sink in.”

“You’re arguing with yourself!” Ford Jr. shot back.

“No! I am not guilty of that,” Watters said. “I finally found one person I knew who got DOGE’d, and it hit me in the heart.”

Concluding his thoughts, Watters said: “Talking about big-ticket items, right? Let’s talk about those. The Pentagon, you have a weapons program in some influential congressman’s district. It is showing no promise in the theater of war. You cut that! And that’s big savings! So, besides saving my friend, Chris, we want bigger dividend DOGE check rebates. I don’t want to pay down the debt, put it back into the economy.”

WATCH:

Meanwhile, Trump spoke with reporters at Mar-a-Lago this week and did not hold back when addressing key issues, particularly DOGE’s ongoing push to save taxpayer dollars.

One exchange gained widespread attention after a reporter attempted a "gotcha" question regarding Musk’s actual "title" at DOGE.

Trump responded by pulling out a document listing recent DOGE findings that revealed even more cases of waste, fraud, and abuse that Americans want eliminated:

REPORTER: In a court filing, the White House stated that Elon Musk is not a DOGE employee and lacks authority to make decisions. Can you clarify?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Elon Musk is. Yeah. Yeah, Elon is, to me, a patriot. So, you know, you could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want. But he’s a patriot.

I mean, look at what I just mentioned. So in case that question was asked elsewhere – and I’m surprised it took so long – but you know what? Ukraine is a bigger issue because people are dying by the thousands each week. Thousands.

But take a look at this, from 90 to 99. Social Security, 6 million, 54,000 people. Well, that’s okay. Maybe that’s possible. You know, 92 to 99, maybe it’s possible. That’s a lot of people, though, at that.

But people that live to 100 to 109, 4,734,000. Wow. That’s a lot. That means over 100 years old. 4 million people. I don’t know. I know there’s so many. I know people that are doing great in their 90s, but not too many people over 100, but over 120 from 120 years old. People that are 120 years old, up to 129, 3,472,000 people.

Wow! You know, that can’t possibly be correct because the record is, I think, one person—a woman who lived to 127—but they have 3,472.