Defense Secretary Says He Shouldn’t Have Kept Hospitalization, Cancer Diagnosis Secret

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb. 1 said it was not right how he and other military officials kept secret how he underwent surgery for cancer and was hospitalized. “I want to be crystal clear—we did not handle this right. And I did not handle this right,” Mr. Austin, a retired general, told a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Mr. Austin, 70, underwent surgery to treat prostate cancer in December 2023, which was not conveyed to the White House or the public. He and staff members also hid for days how he was rushed to the hospital on New Year’s Day for abdominal pain and other problems. And virtually no one, including President Joe Biden, was told for some time of Mr. Austin’s cancer diagnosis....