#briefing-room

#briefing-room

Russia and Iran have been in cahoots for far too long. Russia has relied on Iranian drones in their war against Ukraine. And so, from my vantage point, as you see what is happening, we are decimating Iran's military capabilities. You've seen, very quickly, over seven days, their ability to fire off ballistic missiles has declined precipitously.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Wednesday's briefing alongside Gen. Dan Caine, accused the American press of covering U.S. service member deaths in Iran for one reason only: to make the president look bad. The comment landed like a grenade in a briefing room that was already a stage with One America News Network and The Daily Wire called on first, and the BBC only summoned, per CNN's Brian Stelter, because Hegseth apparently liked anchor Tom Batemans tie.

The MAGA crew does relatively little reporting, so most coverage of the US military is now happening from outside the Pentagon's five walls. Journalists from some traditional outlets were allowed to attend this morning's press conference with Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine. But Hegseth only answered Q's from his chosen outlets.

Playacting for journalists standing in an unruly huddle just off camera, Trump asked questions of the oilmen, wondering how soon they could suck the ground under Venezuela dry. "And you're very much set up for the heavy oil, right?" he asked at one point. There was an implicit cruelty behind the exercise. He wanted the cameras to see him place Venezuela on the table like a celebratory goose and start slicing.

The State Department is removing all posts on its public accounts on the social media platform X made before President Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025. The posts will be internally archived but will no longer be on public view, the State Department confirmed to NPR. Staff members were told that anyone wanting to see older posts will have to file a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a State Department employee who asked to remain anonymous

The president shared the 62-second video on Thursday, just before midnight, which pushes a conspiracy about manipulated vote-counting machines but concludes by cutting to an AI clip that shows the faces of the Obamas superimposed on apes' bodies for roughly a second, accompanied by the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The video carries a watermark linked to a pro-Trump account on X with tens of thousands of followers.

The White House press corps hit a stunning new low by allowing Vice President JD Vance to rant and rave virtually unchallenged, justifying a woman's death like a wild-eyed carnival barker at a briefing on Thursday. As a community reels after the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Vance had an opportunity to cool temperatures and divisions with a sobering, healing message from the White House podium.