Pete Hegseth

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Hegseth: No More Fitness Breaks for Women in Combat

Says women must pass the same tests as men

(Newser) - A new order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to majorly reduce the number of US women in combat positions, per the New York Times . In an order dated Sunday, Hegseth mandated that the physical fitness requirements for all combat positions be "sex-neutral" by the end of October...

Hegseth Involves Wife, Brother in Pentagon

Jennifer Hegseth has attended meetings with foreign military officials, and Phil Hegseth now has a Defense job

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who's under criticism for not maintaining security in planning strikes in Yemen, brought his wife along to two meetings with foreign officials for discussions of sensitive military information. Jennifer Hegseth, a former producer for Fox News, is not an employee of the Defense Department, and...

Clinton Has a One-Word Take on Trump Administration

'Dumb,' former secretary of state says of Signal breach, many other moves Team Trump has made

(Newser) - "Dumb" is the operative word in Hillary Clinton's latest op-ed for the New York Times , in which she takes on former rival President Trump and his administration for "a string of self-inflicted wounds" since he took office, including the headline-making Signal breach that DOD chief Pete Hegseth,...

'Attack Plans' Versus 'War Plans'


Legal Angle
Emerges
in Signal
Controversy
the rundown
Mar 27, 2025 11:39 AM CDT

Legal Angle Emerges in Signal Controversy

And Trump nemesis Boasberg has been assigned the case

(Newser) - The White House is digging in on the Signal breach controversy, insisting that the information discussed in a text group wasn't as sensitive as critics allege. For proof, press chief Karoline Leavitt noted that a new Atlantic headline refers to "attack plans" instead of "war plans" and...

GOP Senators Join Calls for Probe of Signal Breach

Trump says it's 'all a witch hunt'

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling for an inspector general investigation of the Signal breach. After the release Wednesday of the full exchange between top-level officials discussing a strike on Yemen, Wicker said he and Sen. Jack Reed, the panel's top Democrat,...

The Atlantic Releases Group War Texts

Says it now believes public 'should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions'

(Newser) - Two days after revealing that its editor-in-chief was included in a group chat where high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussed plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Atlantic has published those attack plans. As Jeffrey Goldberg, said editor-in-chief, and staff writer Shane Harris write, in the first...

Pentagon Had Warned Against Using Signal

Department repeated the warning last week, saying Russian hackers are targeting the app

(Newser) - Three days after a journalist was accidentally looped into a Signal group chat with top national security officials discussing military strikes in Yemen, the Pentagon warned the app should not be used even to discuss unclassified information. The department-wide advisory dated March 18 warned Signal's use by "common...

Fallout Intensifies After Bizarre Text Breach

Question is whether Trump will fire Mike Waltz after a journalist was accidentally looped into war chat

(Newser) - After the extraordinary revelation that a journalist was accidentally looped into a group chat on US war plans, the big question in DC on Tuesday is whether national security adviser Mike Waltz will keep his job, reports Politico . So far, the White House is standing by him publicly after it...

Journalist Was Accidentally Included in War Plan Chat

Democrats call it an 'outrageous national security breach'

(Newser) - In what Democratic lawmakers say was an "outrageous national security breach," the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic was included in a group chat where high-ranking members of the Trump administration discussed plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen . Jeffrey Goldberg says that on March 15, Defense Secretary Pete...

Hegseth: Musk Didn't See 'Secret' War Plan on China

President Trump also denies that DOGE leader was privy to classified plan

(Newser) - A Thursday report in the New York Times claiming Elon Musk would be briefed by the Pentagon on top-secret war plans against China is now getting pushback, including from President Trump. First, per the Guardian , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday denied Musk saw any such plans during an early...

Navajo Code Talkers Returned to Military Websites

Web pages had been removed as part of DEI crackdown

(Newser) - Some military web pages referencing the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans were restored Wednesday after tribes condemned their removal as part of the Trump administration's push to remove any and all content it deems DEI-adjacent. "In the rare cases that content is removed—either deliberately...

Report: Trump Asks Pentagon to Look at Panama Canal Options

Administration wants DOD to draw up 'credible military options' for 'unfettered' US access to canal

(Newser) - Panama's leader has been pushing back hard on President Trump's insistence on "reclaiming" the Panama Canal for the United States, going so far as to accuse him of lying, but that hasn't stopped Trump from moving forward with his ultimate plans for the Central American waterway....

Hegseth Is Overhauling Military's JAG Legal Corps

Aim is to loosen restrictions on battlefield decisions

(Newser) - New defense chief Pete Hegseth plans a fundamental overhaul of the military's legal system to give soldiers more leeway on the battlefield, reports the Guardian . Hegseth took the first step last month by firing the top legal officers for the Army, Air Force, and Navy—the judge advocates general...

Pentagon: Hegseth Didn't Halt Cyber Ops Against Russia

Reports claimed defense secretary told US Cyber Command to stand down

(Newser) - The Pentagon on Tuesday denied reports that Pete Hegseth has ordered US Cyber Command to cease its cyberoffensive against Russia, the Hill reports. "TO BE CLEAR: @SecDef has neither canceled nor delayed any cyber operations directed against malicious Russian targets and there has been no stand-down order whatsoever from...

Pentagon Reverts Another Military Base's Name

Fort Moore is once again Fort Benning (but not that Benning)

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has, for the second time , reversed the renaming of a US military base, saying that Fort Moore in Georgia should revert back to being called Fort Benning, the AP reports. The move reflects an ongoing effort by the Pentagon to overturn the Biden administration's 2023...

Report: US Drones Search for Mexican Drug Labs

Secret program has apparently been expanded—with or without Mexico's cooperation

(Newser) - A secret government program to send US drones to look for fentanyl labs in Mexico has been dialed up under the Trump administration, reports the New York Times . Started under President Biden, the drone flights have increased under President Trump and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who've promised more...

Hegseth Doesn't Budge From 'Rookie Mistake' Stance

GOP senator wanted new defense secretary to retreat from comment about Ukraine's borders

(Newser) - Pete Hegseth "is going to be a great defense secretary," a Republican senator said Friday at the Munich Security Conference. But Hegseth did not fulfill Roger Wicker's hopes at the start of his first overseas trip in office, Politico reports, especially in saying Ukraine should not expect...

Hegseth Shoots Down Idea of Ukraine Joining NATO

Says it's unrealistic for the country to return to pre-2014 borders

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on his first overseas trip and met Wednesday with NATO and Ukrainian defense ministers in Brussels, giving what the BBC calls an "uncompromising speech." The Guardian has this line: that Hegseth is "here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic...

Army May Resurrect 'Fort Bragg'
Fort Liberty Is
Once Again Fort Bragg
UPDATED
Feb 11, 2025 12:00 AM CST

Fort Liberty Is Once Again Fort Bragg

Though it's now named after a different Bragg

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday signed a memorandum making good on one of President Trump's campaign promises: Fort Liberty is once again Fort Bragg. The memo declared the Army would rename it as such, though it's now named after Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, who won...

Trump Says Strikes in Somalia Targeted IS Planner, Recruits
US Strikes IS Targets in Somalia
Feb 1, 2025 12:56 PM CST

US Strikes IS Targets in Somalia

Pentagon reports that no civilians were harmed

(Newser) - The US military has conducted coordinated airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Trump's second term. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the strikes by US Africa Command were directed by Trump and coordinated with Somalia's government, the...

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