Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth again raged over media coverage of the war in Iran, this time claiming that news outlets are reporting negative news because “the want President Trump to fail.”
Hegseth’s Pentagon briefing marked only the latest in which he has critiqued press coverage, something that has been spoofed on Saturday Night Live, yet also has drawn threats from Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. Over the weekend, Carr threatened to pull broadcast licenses, linking his warning to Trump’s complaints over coverage of the Middle East conflict.
Hegseth said, “I stand here today speaking the American people, not through filters, not through reporters, not through cable news spin. A dishonest and anti Trump press will stop at nothing. We know this, at this point, to downplay progress, amplify every cost, and call into question every step. Sadly, [Trump Derangement Syndrome] is in their DNA. They want President Trump to fail, but you, the American people, know better.”
He went on, “Yes, there are reporters in front of me, but they are not our audience today. It’s you, the good, decent, patriotic American people. You, the hard-working, tax-paying, God-fearing American patriots. The media here, not all of it, but much of it, wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we’re somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a Forever War or a quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Hegseth contended that the aerial bombardment of Iran is “laser focused. It’s decisive. Our objectives, given directly from our America first president, remain exactly what they were on day one. These are not the media’s objectives, not Iran’s objectives, not new objectives, our objectives, unchanged, on target and on plan: destroy missiles launchers and Iran’s defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild; destroy their Navy, and Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Our objectives from day one.”
Over the weekend, Trump accused media outlets of amplifying fake, AI generated videos from Iran of an attack a U.S. aircraft carrier. The president even suggested that journalists could be charged with treason. But per CNN, the White House has not provided examples of a U.S. outlet that spread the videos.
Meanwhile, Matthew Adams, a Pentagon reporter for the military’s publication, Stars and Stripes, said the outlet was was “not approved by the Pentagon to attend this press conference. I will be be watching it on a screen instead.” “Seems a bit odd since the Pentagon published a memo with changes to the newspaper, including content overhaul,” he wrote.
More to come.
English (US) ·