The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is expected Thursday on Capitol Hill to provide a classified briefing to top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security. The information from Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, who is now the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela.
Who would you trust to babysit your kids? This can only be another member of the cabinet. I mean, not your husband or Marco [Rubio], replied Hegseth as everyone laughed. I would trust the vice president. I mean, I've known Sean Duffy for years. I would trust him. I would trust Brooke Rollins or Pam [Bondi]. Tulsi [Gabbard]'s incredible. Asked, Who's most likely to call you after hours in an emergency? Hegseth answered, Uh, Stephen Miller.
Will wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday that Hegseth has seemingly turned himself into a war criminal based on strikes on alleged drug boats leaving Venezuela. According to a report from The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the situation, Hegseth ordered everyone aboard the boat to be eliminated, prompting critics to question whether he is guilty of a war crime. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement, Will wrote in his op-ed,
A very clear one. I can tell you that was definitely not artificial intelligence. I I watched it live! We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented. And that was Tren de Aragua, a narco terrorist organization designated by the United States trying to poison our country with illicit drugs.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was asked by a reporter if he still had confidence in Hegseth's leadership, and he answered, The question will be based on the facts as we find them out, we're going to have some discussions within the committee. Until such times we know the full facts, we won't be making comment. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also refused to answer when asked the same question, saying, I don't have, at this point, I guess, an evaluation of the secretary.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth capped the Thanksgiving weekend with a meme about the Trump administration's drug boat strikes in the Caribbean, and the internet is crushing him for it. It all started on Sunday night when the former Fox News host shared a photo on X of a mock children's book cover with the title, Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists. For your Christmas wish list Hegseth wrote alongside the post.
MS NOW's Morning Joe crew warned that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have put himself in dangerous legal peril by bragging about a strike mission on a suspected narco-trafficking boat after reports he ordered SEAL Team 6 to kill everybody aboard and then allegedly struck survivors in the water. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the September mission, part of a Trump administration push against Venezuelan drug routes, escalated after a drone spotted two survivors clinging to the wreckage, prompting a second strike.
One of the things I do sometimes is I fantasize about what would happen if such and such met such and such. How much would you pay to see a no holds barred between Pete Hegseth and Jason Crow? You know how long Pete Hegseth would last? Maybe a half a second. Jason was in the 75th Ranger Regiment, he said.
During his tenure as secretary of defense, Hegseth has been unnaturally obsessed with building an anti-gay (and anti- women and anti-people-of-color) army. After he was nominated for the position in December, he said allowing gay troops to serve reflects a "Marxist agenda." In June, he ordered the U.S. Navy to remove a boat's title because it was named after Harvey Milk. And in October, the Pentagon criticized Netflix's Boots as "woke garbage."
The new guidance mandates that sideburns must be above the ear opening and that mustaches are prohibited from going beyond the corners of the mouth or into a respirator seal zone, an Air Force spokesperson told the military publication Monday. A memo detailing Air Force grooming standards was reportedly issued last week. It requires service members who choose to wear mustaches to keep them shorter than what was previously necessary.
The U.S. military's top officer overseeingoperations in Central and South America will leave his assignment well ahead of schedule, officials said Thursday - an abrupt, surprising departure as President Donald Trump shows interest in extending his administration's campaign of violence against drug cartels in the region. Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, will retire at the end of the year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement posted on social media.
Maybe the policy should look like the White House or other military installations where you have to wear a badge that identifies that you're press, or you can't just roam anywhere you want. It used to be, Mr. President, the press could go anywhere, pretty much anywhere in the Pentagon, the most classified area in the world.
He said today, tweeted out that the Democrats are the party of hate, evil, and Satan. Good faith. Which is so ridiculous. If they ran Satan, they would have won Florida. I kid Florida, I love Florida. But now, Trump knows how to negotiate this. We're going to get over this. You know how you do it? You get everybody in a room, preferably a ballroom. And you say, nobody's leaving here until you check out these cherubs.
Stephen Colbert opened Tuesday's Late Show with a countdown to a government shutdown, which would cut numerous essential services and leave many out of work. But not everyone Colbert noted that people deemed essential workers, such as air traffic controllers or TSA agents, must stay on the job, even if it means working without pay. Which is perfect for anyone who's ever said I just wish this TSA worker groping my junk was also angry,' Colbert quipped.
Don Lemon finds it ironic that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is dismantling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within the military, considering Hegseth himself is a DEI hire, the ex-CNN star said. Lemon, during an appearance on Dan Abrams' SiriusXM show on Tuesday, made it clear he was not a fan of the new military agenda Hegseth outlined earlier in the morning, while giving a speech to top commanders at Quantico.
The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military's top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. It was issued earlier this week, against the backdrop of a potential government shutdown, and as Hegseth's overtly political moves have deepened a sense of distress among his opponents who fear that he is erasing the Defense Department's status as a nonpartisan institution.
