Pete Hegseth

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In: David Ellison, Larry Ellison, Media, Pete Hegseth, Politics, POTUS, Warfare
Pete Hegseth has banned photographers from Pentagon briefings after “unflattering” photos were published earlier this month

This week the Pentagon disinvited the military’s Star & Stripes publication from attending Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s press conference. That may seem like a minor matter as President Donald Trump and Hegseth have issued broad warnings to the U.S. media about what they characterize as “unpatriotic” coverage of the war in Iran. But it signals a turning point for the newspaper, which has been continuously reporting on military matters since World War II.

The move comes after the Pentagon issued a memo to Stars and Stripes in January outlining new restrictions on content in the newspaper, including a requirement to abide by “good order and discipline.” The newspaper is also expected to “modernize its operations” and “refocus its content away from woke distractions that siphon morale.”

“The Pentagon blackballed its own newspaper from covering its own press conference?” wrote Kevin Baron, a Stars & Stripes reporter. “Reminder, Stars & Stripes employees are US Army civilians. Their editorial independence is protected by Congress specifically to prevent political leaders from feeding troops propaganda.”

The censorship of Stars & Stripes follows the Pentagon’s October 2025 issuance of a new policy for all media. Credentialed outlets must agree to a policy that states reporters cannot gather or publish information from the Pentagon that is not specifically authorized, including declassified information and off-the-record conversations.

Most media outlets refused to sign the agreement, leading to ABC News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, Fox News, the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and countless other outlets losing their Pentagon press credentials.

As media outlets continue to cover the escalating war in the Middle East, Hegseth has bemoaned much of the coverage as “fake news,” taking particular aim at CNN last week. “Fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz,” he said during a press conference. “Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

Hegseth is referring to the billionaire chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, in a $111 billion deal. The deal has been the subject of lawsuits and controversy alleging Ellison’s father Larry Ellison, Oracle founder and one of the richest people in the world, and Trump had finessed the deal away from Netflix.

Even Fox News thinks the media is under fire, referencing Hegseth’s characterization of journalists as “unpatriotic” and “anti-Trump” as they ask questions about the war in Iran. Trump, meanwhile, praised FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s warning about media outlets “correcting course” on their war coverage.

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” wrote Carr in a post on X. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

Meanwhile the families of U.S. military members killed in Iran have spoken out against claims from Hegseth that bereaved families urged him to “finish” the job in the Middle East. Hegseth told reporters yesterday that he had spoken with the families of all six service members killed in a refueling tanker crash last week.

“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve, was the same from family after family,” said Hegseth. “They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done.”

Charles Simmons, father of Ohio Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, who was killed in the crash, denied discussing that with Hegseth. “I can’t speak for the other families,” Simmons told NBC News. “When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about. I didn’t say anything along those lines.”

Stephan Douglas, cousin of Tyler Simmons, one of the three Ohioans killed in the crash, said the conflict was unnecessary in a weekend interview with Columbus news station WCMH. “This could have been prevented,” said Douglas. “We didn’t need to be in this war. This is uncalled for, and this is what we get.”

“Families are suffering right now,” said Bernice Smith, Simmons’ grandmother. “Just to create a war because you want to create a war is not right.”

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In: Israel, Lobbyists, Pete Hegseth, Politics, POTUS, Warfare

As the richest men in the US (all multi-billionaires) buy up media and technology companies at a dizzying pace, it’s logical to assume America is a wealthy nation. In reality, the US is broke, tasked with funding an escalating, costly war that lacks an exit strategy while simultaneously funding massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest 5 percent of U.S. citizens.

According to the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy, a combination of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), termination of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit and tariffs have resulted in increased taxes for all but the top wealthiest five percent of Americans. OBBBA alone is expected to provide $1 trillion in tax cuts for the richest one percent of Americans over the next decade, while cutting Medicaid by almost as much during the same time period.

The US is spending an estimated half a billion dollars each day to fight Israel’s holy war against Iran. And the Pentagon is now asking Congress to approve potentially $200 billion more. The funds would reportedly be used to increase production of munitions that the U.S. and Israel have used to strike thousands of targets since the conflict began.

“It takes money to kill bad guys,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a press briefing today about the request. “Today, will be the largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was. Our capabilities continue to build, Iran’s continue to degrade. We’re hunting and striking. Death and destruction from above.”

A chief economist warned this week that a U.S. recession is a “serious threat,” while gas prices have risen by close to $1 a gallon since the war began. Hegseth’s request will now force the U.S. Congress to decide whether they should continue to represent the interests of their Israeli donors or their constituents.

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In: Israel, Pete Hegseth, Politics, Warfare
March 2025: 90,000 Muslim worshippers ascended Temple Mount for Ramadan prayers

“There’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not possible,” U.S. Secretary of Defense (then a Fox News host) Pete Hegseth said during a 2018 speech at the Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem. “I don’t know how it would happen. You don’t know how it would happen, but I know that it could happen.” 

The construction of a rebuilt “Third Temple” in Jerusalem is deeply rooted in Jewish and even some evangelical Christian eschatology. Derived from visions in the Book of Ezekiel and other texts, it describes a final, permanent house of worship whose construction is essential to ushering in the Messianic era, a time of peace when the Messiah is expected to return to earth.

The Temple has been suggested as one of the main drivers behind the US-Israeli war with Iran and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last week argued during his podcast that the Iran War is a “religious war designed to rebuild the Third Temple on the ashes of Al-Aqsa.” “If you’re a Christian preacher calling for the rebuilding of the Third Temple, you kind of missed the whole point,” said Carlson. “That is not Christianity. It’s not even a close facsimile of Christianity. It’s clearly evil.”

The problem with building a Third Temple on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, is that it is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine. Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the mosque compound dates back to nearly 700 CE and is the second oldest mosque in Islam. It was built to replace the Second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans and replaced Solomon’s Temple, the First Temple, which existed between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE.

Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam for Sunni and Shia Muslims alike. It is a main focal point in the ongoing war in Gaza. Holy sites in Jerusalem have been closed as the war with Iran ramps up, with the Israeli military alleging an Iranian warhead impacted just a few hundred meters from the Old City on February 28, the first day of the war.

“That’s why going and visiting Judea and Samaria and understanding that sovereignty — the very sovereignty of Israeli soil, Israeli cities, locations — is a critical next step to showing the world that this is the land for Jews and the Land of Israel,” said Hegseth during his 2018 speech. “If you walk the ground today, you understand there is no such thing as the outcome of a two-state solution.“

“Without investment of our partners, NATO is irrelevant,” said Hegseth. “The truth [is] that Europe, as Ken pointed out so aptly, is a museum soon to be drowned out by radical Islam and Islamism should they not address their lack of sovereignty, their demographic problems and their inability to defend their culture.”

Hegseth was referring to speaker Kenneth Abromowitz, co-founder and managing partner of NGN Capital, a global healthcare venture capital fund worth half a billion dollars. He was also managing director and a senior adviser of The Carlyle Group.

“I would submit to you, in light of the support you have in Washington, DC, the support you have amongst patriotic Americans, amongst evangelical Christians, amongst believers, amongst Republicans, even amongst some Democrats who can barely say it anymore in Washington…Do what needs to be done here in Israel, because I truly believe America will have your back.”

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In: Kristi Noem, Law Enforcement, Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth, Politics
A still shot from one of Kristi Noem’s infamous DHS horse ads

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, facing threats from drug cartels and over her handling of the Epstein files, has reportedly moved from her Washington, D.C. apartment to a U.S. military base in the area. Threats to Bondi also allegedly ramped up after the questionably legal capture and prosecution of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela in January.

She joins a host of Trump administration officials who have recently relocated to taxpayer-funded military housing, including Stephen Miller, top domestic policy advisor and key architect of the Project 2025 initiative that has provided a blueprint for U.S. immigration policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have also relocated.

And a new analysis from government watchdog Open the Books found that as of September 2025 (the end of the fiscal year), the Pentagon had approved more than $93 billion in spending. In the month of September alone, Hegseth’s War Department spent $6.9 million on lobster tails and $2 million on Alaskan king crab. Additionally in September, the department spent $15.1 million on ribeye steaks, $124,000 for new ice cream machines, and $139,224 on doughnut orders. Other Hegseth splurges include $100,000 on a Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff and $5.3 million on Apple devices, including brand new iPads.

The Pentagon spent $225.6 million in 2025 for furniture, including $12,540 for fruit basket stands and more than $60,000 for recliners from high-end furniture maker Herman Miller. The Pentagon furniture budget was the largest since 2014, when Chuck Hagel was Barrack Obama’s Defense Secretary.

The spending spree news comes on the heels of Noem’s dismissal. Noem is now being investigated by the department’s internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, for “systematically” obstructing its work and refusing to cooperate with criminal investigations.

The Office is also investigating Noem’s $220 million in ad spending, funded by taxpayers, in self-promotional spots featuring her on horseback. Noem had no-bid contracts with three businesses, including a $77 million contract awarded to The Strategy Group operated by a former colleague of Noem’s top advisor and alleged boyfriend Corey Lewandowski. The company does not appear on public documents about the contract and the main recipient listed on the contracts is a mysterious Delaware company, created days before the deal was finalized.

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In: Pete Hegseth, Religion, Warfare
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shows off his Jerusalem Cross tattoo, a symbol of the Christian Crusades

The nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has received more than 200 calls and complaints from military stations across all services with reports of commanding officers citing the Book of Revelation in their morning addresses. The complaints have come in since Saturday’s U.S. military engagement in Iran.

“This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be afraid as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now,” wrote an active duty noncommissioned officer on behalf of themself and 15 other unit members. The noncommissioned unit is stationed outside of Iran but are ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice. “He urged us to tell our troops that this was all part of God’s divine plan and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim advocacy organization in the US, has condemned what it characterized as the Pentagon’s use of “dangerous anti-Muslim holy war rhetoric to justify bombing Iran.” The group also cited Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reference to “crazy regimes like Iran, hell-bend on prophetic Islamic delusions.”

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