‘Out of His League’: Pete Hegseth’s New Press Policy Puts His Paranoia on Full Display

Oct 14, 2025 | Oliver Darcy, Author of the newsletter “Status,” and Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer for The Atlantic join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to Pete Hegseth’s absurd new rules for media organizations and reporters which essentially make it illegal for report anything that the Pentagon does not want reported on, how it shows his paranoia and his lack of depth for the job and how the goal by Hegseth and the Pentagon is to essentially expel all media, even conservative ones.

Media Outlets Refuse to Sign Hegseth’s Pentagon Press Rules

Oct 15, 2025 | Many media outlets - including the entire TV press pool - are refusing to sign Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s policy restricting the press' Pentagon access, escalating tensions over press freedom and government transparency. The Atlantic Staff Writer Ashley Parker, Democratic Strategist Julie Roginsky, and MSNBC Political Analyst Charlie Sykes join Chris Jansing to weigh in.

Donald Trump Rebrands Department of Defense as Department of War | BBC News

Sep 5, 2025 | US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that directs the Department of Defense to be known as the Department of War.

The move restores a name the agency last held in the 1940s and, according to the text of the order seen by the BBC, the aim is to "project strength and resolve".

The department will initially use the new name as a "secondary title" while the administration seeks congressional approval to make the change permanent.


Cancel that second state visit! Immediately, too! This clown thinks that the Americans won the First and Second World Wars! No reference made to Britain and the allies. America, Mr Bone Spurs thinks, was able to win those wars alone. The man is deluded. What an insult! — © Mark Alexander

Why Trump Wants to Rebrand the Pentagon | DW News

Sep 5, 2025 | US President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order, giving the Department of Defense a secondary title, namely the Department of War.

Permanently changing the name requires Congressional approval, but the president's order would authorize the use of the new label as a "secondary title" by his administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will also reportedly be known as the Secretary of War.

Walz Reacts to NYT Report that Pentagon Will Brief Musk on Secret Plan for Potential War with China

Mar 21, 2025 | Minnesota Governor Tim Walz shares his reaction with Rachel Maddow to breaking news from the New York Times that the Pentagon plans to brief Elon Musk on the top-secret plans the U.S. has in place in the event of a potential war with China.

Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Stop Offensive Cyberoperations Against Russia

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia, according to a current official and two former officials briefed on the secret instructions. The move is apparently part of a broader effort to draw President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into talks on Ukraine and a new relationship with the United States.

Mr. Hegseth’s instructions, part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia, have not been publicly explained. But they were issued before President Trump’s public blowup in the Oval Office with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday.

The precise scope and duration of the Defense Department order is not clear, as the line between offensive and defensive cyberoperations is often a blurry one.

Still, retaining access to major Russian networks for espionage purposes is critical to understanding Mr. Putin’s intentions as he enters negotiations, and to tracking the arguments within Russia about what conditions to insist upon and what could be given up. » | Julian E. Barnes, David E. Sanger and Helene Cooper | Reporting from Washington | Sunday, March 2, 2025

Pete Hegseth Boots REAL Media Outlets from Pentagon, Replaces Them with Conservative Propaganda

Feb 10, 2025 | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has booted actual media outlets from the Pentagon and replaced them with conservative outlets that serve as nothing but propaganda for the administration. The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, NBC, and many others will be replaced by One America News, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, and The New York Post. This is how information gets buried and politicians get a free pass on corruption, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.

Pentagon: US Empire is 'Collapsing,' So Give Us More Money

A new Pentagon study says the U.S. may be losing its dominant position in world affairs and that the DoD needs a "wakeup call"--but Col. Lawrence Wilkerson says the report is really about using fear to drum up more money for the military

Obama's Anti-terror Visits This Week Include Pentagon Stop, But No Strategy Changes Expected

US-trained Syria Rebels Gave Weapons to Al-Nusra Islamists, Pentagon Confirms

The U.S. military has revealed that American -trained Syrian rebels surrendered equipment to an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in exchange for safe passage. They handed over pick-up trucks and ammunition. A spokesman for the military described the move as "very concerning".

North Korea Threatens to 'Blow Up' the White House after Claiming to Find 'Clear Evidence' that the Government Was behind Controversial Sony Film The Interview

MAIL ON SUNDAY: State news agency posted saber-rattling anti-U.S. statement / Claimed it would attack 'citadels' of United States including The Pentagon / Also said government officials dictated content of pulled film The Interview

North Korea has threatened more attacks against the U.S. government and other American institutions in the wake of the hack on Sony which cancelled the release of The Interview.

The government - which was outraged by the film showing the assassination of leader Kim Jong Un - also claimed to have 'clear evidence' that the U.S. government engineered the project as a 'propaganda' attack against North Korea.

In a ranting post published by the state news agency KCNA, Korean authorities hit back in an escalating war of words in which they say they will 'blow up' the White House - while bizarrely continuing to deny they have anything to do with the cyber attacks on Sony.

'Nothing is a more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction.'

'Our target is all the citadels of the U.S. imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans.

'The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the U.S. in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels.' Read on and comment » | Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline | Sunday, December 21, 2014

Pentagon Confronting Putin with 'Second Best' Units?

Mar. 07, 2014 - 3:26 - Fox News military analyst retired Maj. Gen. Bob Scales weighs in

Pentagon Warns against Syria Intervention Which Could Cost US '$1bn a Month'

THE INDEPENDENT: Warning comes as the US and Britain concede that Assad could remain in power for a long while, albeit controlling only a portion of his country

The Pentagon's top uniformed official has given one of the clearest signals yet of the reluctance of the Obama administration to intervene militarily in the Syrian civil war, warning that to do so would cost billions of dollars annually and possibly backfire against US interests.

In a letter to the Senate Armed Committee, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set out five options, ranging from training and arming the opposition to establishing buffer zones or or a no-fly zone and direct strikes against regime targets. The pricetag would vary from $500m a year to $1bn a month, as well as thousands of troops.

His warning came as the US and allies including Britain have begun to concede that after his recent successes on the battlefield, President Bashar al-Assad could remain in power for a long while, albeit controlling only a portion of his country. » | Rupert Cornwall | Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Pentagon Poised to Extend Some Benefits to Partners of Gay Soldiers

THE GUARDIAN: Access to on-base stores and support programs likely to be included, but military cannot violate Defense of Marriage Act

The military is poised to extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of service members, US officials said Tuesday, about 16 months after the Pentagon repealed its ban on openly gay service.

Defense secretary Leon Panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, the officials said, but the Pentagon is likely to allow same-sex partners to have access to the on-base commissary and other military subsidized stores, as well as some health and welfare programs.

Panetta must walk a fine, legal line. While there has been increased pressure on the Pentagon to extend some benefits to same-sex partners, defense officials must be careful not to violate the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. The federal law forbids the federal government from recognizing any marriage other than those between a man and a woman. » | Associated Press in Washington | Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Pentagon Halts Class with Controversial Material on Islam
FOX NEWS: WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has suspended a course for military officers that officials say contained inflammatory material about Islam.

Defense Department spokesman Capt. John Kirby said Wednesday that among problems with the course taught at Norfolk, Va., was a presentation that asserted the United States is at war with Islam. Kirby noted that officials across two American administrations have stressed that the U.S. is at war with terrorists who have a distorted view of the religion. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Barack Obama Sets Out Plans for Leaner Military in Historic Strategy Shift

THE GUARDIAN: President says armed forces will move away from large-scale ground warfare and focus more on China in wake of budget cuts

President Obama has unveiled plans for America's military future, outlining a historic shift towards a smaller and leaner force that will focus on China and move away from large-scale ground warfare that has dominated the post-9/11 era.

Obama became the first president to announce a strategy change directly from inside the Pentagon – a theatrical gesture designed to underline the significance of the shift. Mindful of the dangers of displaying any weakness over national security in an election year, Obama said he was determined to maintain US military supremacy around the world, but he admitted that the review involved a move to "smaller conventional ground forces" and the removal of "outdated cold war-era systems".

The immediate incentive for the change in tack, set out in a Pentagon strategy paper, is the fiscal crisis and the Congress-led drive for spending cuts. Currently, the Pentagon is under orders to slash $487bn from the resources it had expected to receive over the next 10 years, and those cuts could rise to close to $1tn if Congress fails to reach agreement on alternative reductions by January next year. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Thursday, January 05, 2012

Neue Sicherheitsdoktrin: USA erklären das Netz zum Kriegsschauplatz

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Das Pentagon hat eine neue Richtlinie: Legt ein Hacker-Angriff wichtige Infrastrukturen lahm und gefährdet Menschenleben, kann die US-Armee einen Vergeltungsschlag starten - mit konventionellen Waffen. Kritiker warnen vor Überreaktionen und befürchten sinnlose Aufrüstung.

Hamburg - Die USA wähnen sich im Internet-Krieg - und behalten sich vor, künftig mit konventionellen Mitteln auf Hacker-Angriffe zu reagieren. Setzt ein Land Viren, Würmer und Trojaner in Bewegung, riskiert es eine Vergeltung durch Kampfjets, Panzer und Bodentruppen. "Wer die Stromnetze unseres Landes sabotiert, muss mit Raketen im Schornstein rechnen", sagte ein Pentagon-Sprecher dem "Wall Street Journal". Der Cyberwar soll nicht länger nur virtuell geführt werden.

Es ist ein Vorgeschmack auf eine neue Strategie der US-Regierung. Das Verteidigungsministerium ist derzeit dabei, formale Regeln zum Umgang mit Internet-Angriffen aufzustellen. Nach jahrelanger Diskussion soll die Cyber-Doktrin jetzt in Kraft treten. 30 Seiten umfasst die Strategie, Teile davon sollen im Juni vorgestellt werden. Kernbestandteil: Sollte ein Cyber-Angriff die Energieversorgung stören, Krankenhäuser ausschalten und somit viele Menschenleben in Gefahr bringen, wird zurückgeschlagen.

Mehr als 100 ausländische Geheimdienste würden versuchen, in amerikanische Rechnernetze einzudringen, warnte ein Pentagon-Sprecher. Einige der Angreifer seien in der Lage, die Kommunikationsnetze zum Erliegen zu bringen - doch bei den meisten Attacken ist das gar nicht die Absicht. Viel öfter geht es um geheime Informationen, um Spionage. Menschenleben sind hier zunächst nur indirekt betroffen. » | Von Ole Reißmann | Mittwoch 01. Juni 2011

Osama Bin Laden: Pentagon Releases Home Videos
BBC: The Pentagon has released home videos of Osama Bin Laden, seized at the secret Pakistani compound where he was shot dead by US commandos.

The tapes show him watching himself on television, and preparing a video message addressed to the US.

At a news briefing in Washington, intelligence officials said Bin Laden had been actively leading al-Qaeda from the compound in Abbottabad.

In total, five videos were seized during Monday's raid.

Rehearsals

In the first video, filmed in October or November 2010, Bin Laden is shown wearing a white skullcap and shirt and a golden robe. He speaks to the camera in the style of previous video addresses by the al-Qaeda leader.

Pentagon officials have removed audio from the film, citing security concerns, but said it was a message to the United States.

Three other clips appear to be rehearsals for the video message, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington. (+ video) » | Saturday, May 07, 2011

Riz Khan - PJ Crowley and the Pentagon
On Wednesday's Riz Khan we speak with PJ Crowley, the former US state department spokesperson, about his inflammatory remarks that led to his forced resignation last month

Pentagon Backs Gay Ban Repeal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Defense Secretary Robert Gates urges Senators to repeal a 17-year-old policy which allows gays to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation private. Video courtesy of Reuters and photo courtesy of Associated Press.