War Secretary Pete Hegseth took a lighthearted approach to an online theory that claims pizza deliveries near the Pentagon can predict major military action.
Responding to questions about the "Pentagon Pizza Report" — an account on X that monitors activity at pizza restaurants near the Pentagon — Hegseth joked that any sudden spike in orders could simply be him stirring the pot.
"I've thought of just ordering lots of pizza on random nights just to throw everybody off," Hegseth said Sunday on Fox News. "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."
"We look at every indicator," he added.
The account tracks Google Maps "popular times" data for pizza shops near the Pentagon and other major U.S. military hubs.
Its premise: when late-night orders surge, it may signal senior military leaders are working overtime — possibly in response to unfolding global events.
The theory resurfaced on June 12, when the account reported a noticeable jump in activity at four pizza locations near the Pentagon shortly before news broke of Israel's major strike on Iran.
"As of 6:59 p.m. ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity," the account posted on X.
Although the United States initially said it was not involved in Israel's opening strikes, U.S. forces later entered the 12-day conflict. On June 22, American forces carried out "Operation Midnight Hammer," bombing three of Tehran's nuclear facilities.
Hegseth emphasized that U.S. war officials are well aware of so-called open-source intelligence and take steps to account for it.
"There's a reason Midnight Hammer worked, because we understood open sourced, we understand classified ways in which the public and others are trying to watch movements and insensitive ways we tried to control for that," he said.
The fascination with pizza orders and Pentagon activity is nothing new. Public speculation about late-night deliveries as a signal of impending military action dates back to the 1980s.
In January 1991, Frank Meeks — who owned 43 Domino's franchises in the Washington area — highlighted the unusual patterns pizza delivery drivers sometimes notice.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he noted that on Aug. 1, 1990, the CIA placed a then-one-night record order of 21 pizzas just hours before Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, igniting the Gulf War.
"The news media doesn't always know when something big is going to happen because they're in bed, but our [pizza] deliverers are out there at 2 in the morning," Meeks said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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