President Trump, in a sudden reversal, announced on Tuesday evening that the United States was pausing “for a short period of time” efforts to help guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked to most commercial ships for weeks. The president’s announcement came one day after the effort began. He said…
The defense secretary and the Democratic congressman had, in many respects, led parallel lives. Pete Hegseth and Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts both graduated from Ivy League colleges and volunteered to fight in Iraq. Both pushed for more troops and a better strategy for that war in 2006 as violence spiked and Americans turned against…
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the withdrawal of roughly 5,000 US troops from Germany over the next year, a spokesman confirmed to Breaking Defense. “This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman…
For months, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have celebrated tentative agreements with defense companies to expand production of Patriot air defense systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles and other weapons believed crucial for a war with China, Russia or North Korea. “Exquisite Class Weaponry,” the president said on Truth Social on March 6 after meeting…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth controversially claimed on Thursday that the fragile ceasefire with Iran means that President Donald Trump does not yet have to seek congressional consent to extend the war. Hegseth argued that the pause in hostilities freezes the ticking clock that would otherwise require the president either to get agreement from lawmakers or…
WASHINGTON — Ten months after Congress passed its reconciliation effort, only $26 billion of the roughly $152 billion earmarked for defense has been placed on contract, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today. However, Hegseth told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the money is set to start flowing soon, saying, “we’ve got the…
In his first major public appearance before Congress since the beginning of the Iran war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the biggest adversary the United States faced was not Iran’s military, but the “feckless and defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers. It was a preview of what turned out to…
The United States and Iran on Friday were taking steps to resume peace talks, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships and ports would continue for “as long as it takes” to get Tehran to agree to a deal. Steve Witkoff, a U.S. special envoy, and Jared Kushner, President…
Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile. The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it…
President Trump wanted one thing, more than anything else, from his secretary of the Navy, John Phelan: a new class of battleships. “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Mr. Trump boasted at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate and resort in…
