War Stories Hegseth Just Delivered a Slap in the Face to a Loyal Ally. The Implications Are Huge. By Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. Sign in or create an account to better manage your email preferences. Unsubscribe from email alerts Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from email alerts for Fred Kaplan ? April 24, 2026 5:50 AM Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images and Serhii Mykhalchuk/Getty Images. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called Estonia’s defense minister on Monday with some bad news: Because of its own needs in the war with Iran, the Pentagon would have to delay delivery of six units of a high-tech weapons system that Estonia had contracted to buy from the United States government.…