The drama surrounding Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has a new lead player: a top aide known to his detractors as “Rasputin Ricky.”
Ricky Buria, the defense secretary’s de facto chief of staff, is a rare Biden administration holdover and an internal critic of Vice President JD Vance’s “wackamamie crazy” and “isolationist” views — who has also slammed President Trump’s use of the military for immigration enforcement as “dumb.”
Buria, 43, is also considered “incredibly intelligent and hardworking,” has fashioned himself as a China hawk and is seen by Hegseth as an effective administrator who keeps the office running smoothly — but the White House has blocked him from a permanent chief of staff appointment due to concern about his alignment with the commander-in-chief.
“There is an ideological component to this,” said one Buria critic. “Hegseth is elevating a Democrat who does not share the vice president or the president’s worldview and who weaponized his position to push out internal rivals, including people who had very strong histories of being supporters of the MAGA agenda.”
Buria’s elevated status has triggered a brouhaha among factions close to Trump, who has had aides hold varying views throughout his terms in office — while often changing his own in response to circumstances.
Trump often vacillates between denouncing military action abroad and ordering its use in specific instances — and Buria has positioned himself on one flank, while those with whom he’s clashed internally have diverse points of view.
