Pete Hegseth bristled through a Pentagon press conference, snapping at his own hand-picked journalists who asked seemingly innocuous questions.
The defense secretary went live to the nation from the Pentagon to address concerns about Donald Trump’s muddled war in Iran, which the president launched over the weekend with a series of air strikes.
The press conference started with the so-called “secretary of war” doling out platitudes and victim-blaming in a pre-prepared statement. “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it,” the former Fox & Friends weekend host declared at one point.
Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then faced a press pool who were keen to know more about a war that has split opinion among Republicans.
The pool included a bunch of handpicked Trump-friendly hacks who either signed up or were invited to join the new-look press corps after seasoned reporters refused to sign an essential Pentagon gag order back in October.
A Defense Department official told the Daily Beast that several outlets that signed the restrictive new policy and retained access were present, such as conservative publications One America News (OAN), The Federalist, and The Epoch Times.
Among the new crop who joined after outlets like Fox News, The New York Times, and Reuters refused to play ball were The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Turning Point USA’s Frontlines, The Daily Signal, and The Daily Caller.
Lindell TV, the media platform launched by MyPillow CEO and Trump super fan Mike Lindell, was also present. So, too, was right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, also known as Timcast.
Pool, who came to prominence during the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011, has criticized Trump in recent weeks but largely built his platform on anti-establishment political commentary that often overlaps with pro-Trump narratives.
Laura Loomer, perhaps Trump’s most diehard loyalist, was notably not present. Loomer claimed in December that she had officially been given a desk and credentials at the Pentagon.
The official added that journalists from other organizations, including Politico, CNN, and MS NOW, were allowed to attend the press conference.
It appeared, though, that Hegseth only answered questions from his chosen outlets. His mood deteriorated rapidly, and he grew more and more irate as reporters lobbed questions at him that were hardly hardball. The first flashpoint came when an unidentified reporter asked whether there were currently American boots on the ground in Iran.
“No, but we are not going into the exercise of what we will or will not do,” he said, before pointedly adding, “It is a fallacy that this department or presidents should tell the American people and our enemies, ‘Here is what we’ll do, here is how long we’ll go, how far we’ll go, what we’re willing to do and not do.’ It is foolishness!”
After basically suggesting that his department does not have to inform Americans about a new war in the Middle East, he added, “We will go as far as we need to go to advance American interests. You don’t have to roll 200,000 people in and stay for years. We are not foolish about it. Will we be bold and decisive about it? Do we put months of planning in? Absolutely.”
He grew even agitated, gesticulating toward the press and saying, “Going forward, why would we tell you—you, the enemy, anybody—what we will or will not do? We fight to win and achieve the objectives the president of the United States laid out, and will do so.”
Hegseth looked tetchy again after NBC News’ Courtney Kube snuck in a question, asking how long the operation in Iran might last. “That’s a typical NBC sort of, gotcha type question,” he snapped.
CNN media analyst Brian Stelter reported that Hegseth had a pre-selected list of questioners, and all the reporters were in assigned seats, “so he knew who to call on.” Kube was not one of them, hence his pointed response.
He reserved perhaps his most harsh rebuke for a female journalist who dared to question him on his earlier comments and say the American public “deserve” to know what “they’re sending their men and women to war for.”
“Did you not hear my remarks?” he bluntly responded before ranting about the Trump administration being “clear-eyed” in its objectives.
“We’re ensuring the mission gets accomplished, we are clear-eyed, unlike other presidents, about foolish policy of the past that recklessly pulled us into things not tethered to clear objectives,” he said.
