Pentagon Persists in Punishing Reporters After Court Ruling That It Violated the Constitution

The acutely impaired psyche of Donald Trump manifests daily in a multitude of ways. He has a massive yet fragile ego. He compulsively employs infantile insults aimed at his innumerable perceived enemies. He demands unwavering loyalty, but returns only betrayal. He displays classic signs of sociopathy and tyrannical aspirations.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump, Constitution

In addition to all of that, Trump has distinguished himself as America’s most media averse president. He hates the free press with a passion. Well, unless he is getting swaddled in adoring attention, which he craves like crack. And his hatred has revealed itself in his overt suppression of the media by his administration, including the Pentagon…

SEE THIS: Trump Kicks Reporters Out of Pentagon Offices, Replaces Them with MAGA Media Mouthpieces

Last year Trump had his Secretary of War Crimes, Pete Hegseth, throw reporters out of the Pentagon offices that they have used for decades. They decreed that “journalists must sign a pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified reports, that hasn’t been authorized for release.” Failure to obey would result in the revocation of their press credentials. That effectively transforms the Pentagon press corps into a group of doting White House stenographers. At first, even Trump opposed this blatant censorship, until someone explained to him what he really thought about it.

Most credible journalists refused to comply with the new edicts and were banished from the building. They were then replaced by glassy-eyed sycophants devoted to fluffing Trump and embracing everything he does and says as gospel. This week, however, a court ruled that the Pentagon’s new protocol violated the Constitution and it’s protection for a free press. As reported by the Guardian

“‘Those who drafted the first amendment believed that the nation’s security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech,’ US district court judge Paul Friedman wrote in his opinion. ‘That principle has preserved the nation’s security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now.'”

True to form, the Trump administration has chosen to defy the court ruling and double down on their unconstitutional behavior. Rather than simply return their press credentials and restore their access, the Pentagon chose to shut down the reporters’ offices entirely, and designate an off-site facility to house them. That is a direct rejection of the court ruling, and representatives of the journalists have vowed to return to court to challenge this obvious end-run around the law.

The strident efforts on the part of Trump and his minions to muzzle the media make one thing perfectly clear. They are scared witless of real news being reported and voters finding out all of the nefarious schemes that they are engaging in. The Trump regime is acting exactly like the totalitarian tyrants (Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, etc.) that he idolizes and seeks to emulate.

By stomping his boot down on the press Trump is telling the American people that he is determined to abuse his power, to keep his secrets hidden, and to undermine the Constitution and democracy. And it is no coincidence that all of this is happening as he is embroiled in a scandal involving his best friend Jeffrey Epstein, as he is launching unprovoked and illegal wars, and as a critical election is coming up in a few short months.

Anyone who isn’t asking “What is he afraid of,” just wants to remain blissfully ignorant. Not to mention willfully enslaved by a dictator.

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Pete Hegseth Grasps at Fantasy that Americans Back Trump’s Iran War, While Attacking the Media

There is an old adage among lawyers that says, “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table.” Now we can add the Trump corollary to that which would end with “if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the media.”

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump baby and Pete Hegseth

Actually, in Trump’s world he would probably say to pound the media even if you have the facts and the law on your side. Pounding the media is the first response to virtually every dilemma that Trump or his toadies face. He is so entirely incapable of forming a coherent thought that attacking the press is just easier and, for him, more personally satisfying.

SEE THIS: Trump Brags About Getting Fascist Control of the Media in Bonkers Truth Social Post

Naturally, Trump’s Cabinet follows the same unprincipled path of anti-constitutional dismissal of the free press. His Minister of War Crimes, Pete Hegseth, held a press harangue on Thursday morning to rant about (and at) the media for their audacity in covering Trump’s war against Iran accurately. Hegseth looked directly into the assembled cameras, pointing his finger at them, and bellowed that…

“I stand here today speaking to you, the American people. Not through filters. Not through reporters. Not through cable news spin. A dishonest and anti-Trump press will stop at nothing to downplay progress, amplify every cost, and call into question every step. Sadly, TDS is in their DNA. They want president Trump to fail. But you, the American people, know better.”

Trump's Minister of War Crimes, Pete Hegseth, attacks the media because he has no facts to support his illegal war against Iran. So he whines about the press asking legitimate questions:"They [the media] want Trump to fail. But you, the American people, know better."Ummm, OK.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2026-03-19T17:42:28.346Z

First of all, Hegseth’s insistence that he wasn’t speaking through reporters is downright hysterical considering that he was literally speaking through reporters. Well, at least a few among the MAGA-friendly hacks that he allows into the press room. Or did he think that the American people were all in the room with him?

What’s more, Hegseth’s whining that the media would “call into question every step” that the administration takes is a pathetic complaint that just reveals his ignorance of the fact that it is the media’s job to question any administration. Or does he think that the press should be blind sycophants who adore everything Dear Leader does and says? (You don’t have to answer that).

It was, however, generous of Hegseth to leave it up to the American people to decide for themselves what they think about Trump’s “little excursion” into Iran that has already cost 13 American lives, more than 1,400 Iranians, and cost over $12 billion dollars. On top of that, Trump is now asking for $200 billion more. For what he doesn’t actually say.

The American people have made their disapproval of all of that well known in numerous polls, with big majorities opposing the action. Furthermore, another survey shows that Trump’s handling of the war is also a disaster, with his approval on Iran at a dismal 36%, and disapproval at 56%. In the same survey his personal approval hits a new low at only 35%.

Not to worry though. Trump is buoyed by the glassy-eyed adoration of his cult following MAGA minions. A poll of their support for Trump came in at an astoundingly high 100%. Never mind that the MAGA mob makes up a paltry 27% of American voters. And their hive-minded uniformity affirms that MAGA is hopelessly brainwashed. In fact, IT’S A CULT! And it is that groveling gaggle that Hegseth is actually speaking to through the media that he and Trump despise.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump Regime Clamps Down on ‘Stars and Stripes’ News For the Military Amid Iran War Fiasco

The determination of Donald Trump and his MAGA minions to assume authoritarian style control over the free press is rapidly advancing as he aggressively accelerates his abuse of power to subjugate the media. That abuse takes the form of persecution by his “Justice” Department and overt threats of lawsuits and other forms of illegal punishment for any journalists who dare to report truthfully about him or challenge his MAGA-sty.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump, Constitution

Trump’s efforts to quash the Constitution’s First Amendment protection of the free press have already had some dreadful effects on the media. He has coerced corporations that own news divisions to acquiesce to his demands for more favorable coverage, to pay out settlements for bogus claims of defamation, and to make concessions in order to gain federal approvals for mergers and other business regulatory matters. And Trump is actually proud of that poisoning of the media environment.

SEE THIS: Trump Brags About Getting Fascist Control of the Media in Bonkers Truth Social Post

Trump’s Secretary of War Crimes, Pete Hegseth, has been a faithful partner in his assault on the press. He recently issued orders to ban journalists from the Pentagon who declined to sign loyalty oaths to Trump. That meant that the only officially credentialed reporters allowed access to the Pentagon were Trump-fluffing outlets like One America News.

The latest act of tyrannical propagandism by Hegseth is his edict constraining the reporting of the previously respected military publication, Stars and Stripes. According to NPR (which is one of the news outlets Hegseth banned from the Pentagon)…

“The Defense Department has begun to exert greater control over Stars and Stripes, weeks after a top spokesman accused the independent military newspaper of focusing on ‘woke distractions.’

“The Pentagon announced what it calls ‘modernization’ changes this week, in a memo dated March 9 and effective immediately, according to a copy seen by NPR and first reported by Stars and Stripes on Friday. It’s the latest effort by the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to apply extraordinary limits on journalists covering the agency.

“The memo says that Stars and Stripes will continue to ‘operate with editorial independence.’ However, it also says that the newspaper must immediately begin implementing the Defense Department’s new interim policies and stop publishing several types of content.”

It is no coincidence that the language used by the DoD spokesman, Sean Parnell, parroted Trump’s rhetoric of “woke” reporters who fail to sufficiently worship Dear Leader. Parnell specifically stated that the purpose of the so-called “modernization” of Stars and Stripes was to “refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon (sic) morale.”

Parnell also complained about the use of wire services to augment the publication’s content, saying that there would be “No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.” Therefore, there will no longer be any reporting by credible journalists around the world. There will also no longer be any sports coverage, or entertainment stories, or comic strips. All of which are popular with the troops who are the primary readers of the paper.

More troubling is the fact that this change has been made just as the U.S. has embarked on a war with Iran. So Stars and Stripes readers will now be missing some of the most important stories that in the past would have kept them informed about the state of the world and the American military’s place in it.

It can’t be ignored that Hegseth and Trump are just trying to insure that our troops will never hear important stories, such as the bombing of an Iranian school that killed more than 150 children. Or that the Strait of Hormuz is being shut down by Iran. Or that Trump has declared that the war has already been won, but that he wants to continue the fighting – and the killing, and the placing of American troops in harms way – for fun.

Stars and Stripes itself covered the memo wherein Hegseth’s Pentagon ordered the constraints on the paper. They quoted a spokesman for PEN America, an organization that advocates for the free press, who said that…

“This clearly shows that the Pentagon is trying to increase its influence over content decisions at Stars and Stripes [and that] That’s a threat to the First Amendment.”

What this boils down to is that Trump and Hegseth are terrified of allowing Americas soldiers access to information that directly affects their lives and the lives of their families. It’s a dictator’s approach to free speech and democracy. So naturally Trump has embraced it as his own. Hopefully the reporters at Stars and Stripes – and all other media – will resist such censorship and continue to be faithful to the Constitution, rather to the felonious authoritarian occupying the White House.

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Trump’s Secretary of Wars, Pete Hegseth, Openly Yearns For Government Control of the Media

Nearly two weeks ago, Donald Trump launched a wholly unprovoked, illegal war against Iran that many experts have concluded was his attempt to juice his historically slumping approval ratings, or as a favor to his foreign friends (e.g. Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc.), and/or to deflect attention from his unsavory relationship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his obstruction of the release of the Epstein files.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji

Nevertheless, the war against Iran, that Trump says he has already won and can end any time wants (but doesn’t want to), continues to rage on, producing more tragic injuries and deaths of American soldiers, and hundreds more of Iranian civilians. But not to worry. Trump’s Secretary of “Wars,” Pete Hegseth, is laser focused on the “excursion” (as Trump calls it), and is managing the conflict exactly as you might expect a former Fox New host to do…

SEE THIS: Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Secretary of ‘Wah’ is a Crybaby Who Bans ‘Unflattering’ Photos of Himself

On Friday Hegseth held another press conference to lie about the progress of the war. In each of his prior media avails, Hegseth has spent more time lambasting the media than providing any honest information about the what’s going on in Iran. This time was no different as Hegseth sought to portray any bad news as “fake,” while assuming the facade of a macho war gamer in his mom’s basement (video below). For instance…

“We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies. Yet some in this crew, in the press, just can’t stop. Allow me to make a few suggestions. People look up at the TV and they see banners, they see headlines. I used to be in that business. And I know that everything is written intentionally.”

For the record, according to international humanitarian law, orders to give “no quarter, no mercy,” are regarded as war crimes. And Hegseth’s bragging that he used to be in the media business only affirms his experience with, and devotion to, surface level appearances. He went on to say that…

“More fake news from CNN: ‘Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz.’ Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do. Hold the Strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.’

If the Trump regime did anticipate that Iran would block the Strait, then why didn’t they do anything about it in advance to mitigate its impact? Did they just decide to let Iran shut down oil traffic in the Strait, roiling energy markets and raising gas prices? Because that’s what it seems like based on another comment by Hegseth, who said that “The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping.” Really? What an enlightening update. Thanks Captain Obvious.

Hegseth then added that the Strait would be “open for transit if Iran didn’t do that.” That’s true. But it’s like saying that Mar-a-Lago would be open for pedophiles if Trump…Oh wait. It already is!

Even worse was Hegseth’s view that “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” He is flagrantly advocating the sort of fascist takeover of the media that is practiced in authoritarian regimes like Russia, China, and North Korea. And he is admitting that the acquisition of CNN by David and Larry Ellison would achieve the right-wing bias that critics of the merger have warned about.

Hegseth’s official DoD Twitter account was apparently proud of his remarks about Iran and the media. It posted a tweet saying that “SECWAR JUST LIT UP THE FAKE NEWS:” Perhaps in their own imaginations. More realistically, Hegseth just provided more proof of his dishonesty and disrespect for the First Amendment.

What’s more, Hegseth was saying all of this in a press room where he has previously banned most of the media that isn’t already MAGA-friendly. Among the “reporters” in the room were those from Trump-fluffing networks such as Lindell TV, One America News, and Real America News. So it’s no wonder that there wasn’t any serious pushback or follow ups.

RELATED STORIES”

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Secretary of ‘Wah’ is a Crybaby Who Bans ‘Unflattering’ Photos of Himself

Ten days into the war that Donald Trump launched against Iran to destroy their nuclear capabilities (that he obliterated a few months ago), or to effect regime change (to a younger Ayatollah Khamenei), or to free up the oil market (that is now more constrained, raising gas prices to the highest levels in five years), the “stable genius” occupying the White House now says that the war is both over and just beginning.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump baby and Pete Hegseth

Trump’s utterly unjustified and illegal war is going great, according to Trump. Never mind that more than 140 American soldiers suffered serious injuries, including eight fatalities. And just ignore that it’s costing American taxpayers nearly a billion dollars a day. In Trump’s mind it’s a complete success because…well, just because he says so. And his boss in Moscow surely agrees.

SEE THIS: The Trump Regime Takes Putin at His Word About Russia Aiding Iran but Wanting to Help the U.S.

Of course, the Trump regime’s war machine is fully engaged in the war effort. That means that his Secretary of “War,” Pete Hegseth, is focused squarely on the mission to achieve whatever the heck Trump’s goals are. Even though he has failed to coherently explain what they are.

For his part, Hegseth is advancing the military’s position of always putting first the most shallow objective of enhancing the PR of the Pentagon and its boss, Pete Hegseth. For instance, it was reported Wednesday that Hegseth has taken bold measures to insure that he continues to look good in the media…

The Defense Department has barred press photographers from briefings on the Iran war after they published photos of Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed "unflattering," according to two people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) 2026-03-11T15:45:18.439Z

That’s right. “Snowflake Pete” has put the kibosh on “unflattering” pictures of the Secretary of “Wah.” This is a move that ought to have been expected, coming from the former co-host of a weekend Fox News morning program. And it isn’t the first time that Hegseth has banished unfriendly media on the basis of appearances…

Trump’s Secretary of War on the Press, Pete Hegseth, Is Rebuked By the Media He’s Trying to Censor
“Hegseth proved his fealty to Trump last month when he issued a decree demanding that the press must swear a Trumpian loyalty oath before being allowed access to the Pentagon or to military leaders who work for the American people. […] The mandate that Hegseth imposed on the press forbids them to do any investigative reporting, interviewing, or to publish any stories that haven’t been pre-approved by Hegseth’s Pentagon overlords.

“Under this decree, reporters would be required to have an approved Pentagon escort when in the building. And should they refuse to sign the oath, they risk losing their press credentials.”

And who could forget Hegseth’s orders to build a makeup studio in the Pentagon, so that he could always look his best when doing cable news hits for MAGA friendly media…

Pete Hegseth Spends Thousands for a Pentagon Makeup Studio to Fortify America’s Military Might
“[Hegseth] has spent thousands of dollars to build a makeup studio in the Pentagon. Apparently, our soldiers also have to look good in battlefield photos. Or more likely, when Hegseth and other officers are making appearances on Fox News.”

More recently, Hegseth let it be known that he wouldn’t tolerate any news reporting of American casualties of war, because their having had the audacity to die on duty made Trump look bad…

Pete Hegseth Callously Dismisses American Fatalities as the Press ‘Wanting to Make Trump Look Bad’
“This is what the fake news misses. We’ve taken control of Iran’s airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news. I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.”

Is this what Hegseth means when he talks about restoring a “warrior ethos” to the military? Because it seems more like he’s restoring the “red carpet” essence of the entertainment industry from whence he came. It surely isn’t helping either the image or the abilities of troops. But it soothes the massive but fragile egos of Hegseth and Trump. Who were both television hosts before going into politics.

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Pete Hegseth Callously Dismisses American Fatalities as the Press ‘Wanting to Make Trump Look Bad’

The authoritarian aspirations of Donald Trump have manifested in innumerable ways during his occupation of the White House. He has been resolutely averse to complying with federal law and the Constitution. He has refused to acknowledge the role of either Congress or the courts as co-equal branches of the American republic. And he has made it his mission to alienate America’s international allies, while embracing its sworn enemies.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji

This has been painfully apparent in the four days since Trump launched his reckless, unjustified, and illegal war against Iran. There has already been a tragic loss of life of American troops. Not to mention hundreds of innocent Iranians. And all because of Trump’s obsession with war mongering and desperate craving to be perceived as a macho man, despite his personal resume of cowardice and the weakness of envy.

SEE THIS: Trump Reveals His OCD (Obama Compulsive Disorder) Played a Role in Launching a War Against Iran

Taking his cues from Trump, the Secretary of Toy Soldier War, Pete Hegseth, held a press harangue on Wednesday morning to provide his update on the regress of the Iran war, that nobody in the Republican Party or crony MAGA media will admit is a war. During his extending rant, Hegseth made his feelings known about both the fallen soldiers under his command and the media that reports on their fates. He whined that…

“This is what the fake news misses. We’ve taken control of Iran’s airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news. I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.”

Notice that Hegseth himself refers to this as a war. Then he goes on to characterize the death of American troops as merely that “tragic things happen.” That’s true. Tragic things happen when incompetents whose prior experience was hosting weekend programs on Fox News are put in charge of massive military bureaucracies. But rather than taking responsibility for it, Hegseth blames the media for giving it the proper attention that fallen heroes deserve on the front pages and opening segments of their reporting.

However, to Hegseth, “reporting the reality” of these tragedies is just the media’s attempts “to make the president look bad.” Trust me…Trump doesn’t need any help from the media to look bad. But Hegseth is outraged because reporting that Americans have died in this regime’s war of choice and vanity can’t be spun as something positive for Dear Leader Trump.

Making matters worse, when Trump’s Propaganda Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was asked about Hegseth’s callous remarks, she took the same position…

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: Given what Hegseth said this morning, is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. Service members?
Leavitt: No, it’s the position of this administration that the press in this room, and the press across the country, should accurately report on the success of operation Epic Fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue Iranian regime that has threatened the lives of every single American in this room. […]

The press does only want to make the president look bad. Especially you, and especially CNN […] You and your network know that you take every single thing that this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad. That is an objectable (sic) fact.

Leavitt personally insults Collins, while literally saying that the job of the press is to report only “the success of operation Epic Fury” (aka Epstein Fury), not the reality. Because the reality has the unfortunate, albeit accurate, side effect of hurting Trump’s objectively abysmal reputation. And she flagrantly lies that it’s a fact that “every single thing” the administration says is used by CNN to make him look bad. Has she never seen Scott Jennings, Ben Ferguson, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Ari Fleischer, and many more of CNN’s Trump-fluffers?

Leavitt conveniently fails to mention Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News, where she spends more time than she does at her White House office. And Fox News has also been regurgitating the Trump regime’s talking points about Iran, while downplaying the bad news. For instance, Fox’s Emily Compagno recently gushed that Trump “is a president that does not take the loss of those six American lives lightly. He takes it with the gravitas it deserves.” For the record, here is the “gravitas” that Trump expresses for the loss of life…

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Is Secretary of ‘War’ Pete Hegseth Covering Up the War Crimes that He and Trump Have Committed?

For the past few months Donald Trump has presided over a series of deadly air strikes on boats in the Caribbean that he alleged were engaged in drug trafficking. Never mind that he provided no evidence to support his allegations, or that such strikes in international waters are against international law. And even if there were evidence, the alleged crimes would not have been subject to capital punishment.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth

Trump’s Caribbean misadventures have been conducted purely for what he perceives to be the political benefit of slaughtering what he calls “narco-terrorists” (a ridiculous, made up term), and its usefulness in deflecting from his tribulations involving the Epstein files that he continues to suppress. Meanwhile, Trump’s Secretary of “War” Pete Hegseth, has holiday visions of bloody corpses dancing in his head…

SEE THIS: The Nauseating Christmas ‘Wish” of Trump’s Bloodthirsty Secretary of ‘War’ Pete Hegseth

One particularly disturbing attack occurred on September 2, 2025, when the first air strike left a couple of survivors clinging to the wreckage of their boat. So there was a second strike ordered that succeeded in murdering the two helpless survivors. Most reputable military legal experts have called that a war crime.

Video of the first strike was released shortly after it occurred, But video of the second strike has been mysteriously withheld. Consequently, there has been a great deal of interest in releasing the second video in order to ascertain the facts that have been mired in controversy and ever-changing.

When this subject was first raised with Trump, he pretended to have an opinion favoring complete transparency and told reporters that he had “no problem” with releasing the second video. But that position didn’t hold for very long…

On December 3:
Question: You released video of that first boat strike on September 2nd, but not the second video. will you release the video of that strike so that the American people can see for themselves what happened?
Trump: I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release. No problem.
On December 8:
Question: You said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela.
Trump: I didn’t say that. You said that. I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news…Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.

Q: “You said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2nd.”Trump: “I didn’t say that. You said that. I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news.”Trump on Dec. 3: “Whatever they have, we’d certainly release. No problem.”

The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-12-08T20:32:26.091Z

So Trump’s willingness to release the second video was short-lived, and he quickly shifted responsibility for what was being described as a war crime to his DoD underling, Hegseth. In the process, denying that he said what he was actually caught saying to a room full of reporters.

On Tuesday morning Hegseth was asked about the second video and gave an answer that appears he hopes will close the debate, saying that he would…

“…allow the HASC [House Armed Services Committee} and SASC [Senate Armed Services Committee] to see the unedited video of September 2nd, alongside Admiral Bradley, who has done a fantastic job, has made all the right calls, and we’re glad he’ll be there to do it. But in keeping with long-standing Department of Defense policy, of course we’re not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public. HASC and SASC, appropriate committees, will see it, but not the general public.”

Hegseth on the second Sept 2 strike: "Of course we're not going to release a top secret full unedited of that to the general public"

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-16T16:20:28.975Z

For some reason it has been appropriate to release every other video of the two dozen boat strikes (so far) in the Caribbean before this. They are estimated to have resulted in at least 95 deaths, possibly of innocent fishermen. But for this one video different rules apply, even though nothing is different about it. There is nothing more in it that would compromise national security or confidential military sources or methods.

The only difference with this second video is that it might reveal to the American people just how lawless and inhumane the Trump regime is in their conduct of this phony, undeclared war. So Hegseth prohibits its release in order to shield himself – and Trump – from accountability for their criminal misconduct. It also shields them from the public disgust and disgrace that would follow if they were to see what Hegseth and Trump have been up to.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been calling for the video to be released. Any efforts to suppress it can only be viewed as a deliberate cover up. And Hegseth cannot be the final word on this. Ultimately, Trump is supposed to be the commander-in-chief, and it his his decision to release or hide this video.

If Trump chooses to hide the video, he is essentially admitting that it contains information that would incriminate him and others. Very much like his choice to hide the Epstein files. Hopefully Congress will prevail in this matter, and the people will get the truth to which they are entitled.

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

The Nauseating Christmas ‘Wish” of Trump’s Bloodthirsty Secretary of ‘War’ Pete Hegseth

As the American people recover from their Thanksgiving feasts, Donald Trump and his Republican MAGA cult in Washington are demonstrating their ability to sink lower in morality, legality, and even holiday spirit, than anyone previously thought possible.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Donald Trump Christmas

Trump is devoting his profoundly short attention span to deporting law abiding migrants, including citizens, and building his elitist White House ballroom. His Attorney Genuflect, Pam Bondi, is persecuting Democratic members of Congress, on Trump’s orders, and blaming President Biden for all manner of crimes committed on Trump’s watch. Meanwhile, American families are struggling to cope with the economic disasters caused by Trump’s ignorant agenda of tariffs and cozying up to corporations.

SEE THIS: Trump Promises Higher Prices ‘On Everything’ Just in Time for the Holidays – No, Really!

Which brings us to Trump’s Secretary of “War” (a post that doesn’t actually exist), Pete Hegseth. Having graduated from weekend Fox News host to Pentagon Chief, Hegseth has distinguished himself as incompetent, callous, and brazenly criminal. And now that he has gotten through the Thanksgiving holidays, he is concentrating on his disgustingly barbaric and lawless anti-drug trafficking efforts in the Caribbean, where he has engaged in murdering suspects without ever producing a shred of evidence of any crime.

Not satisfied with merely blowing up potentially innocent fishermen, Hegseth just posted a meme on his Twitter/X account that exhibits his grossly reprehensible disrespect for human life, along with his Christmas “wish.”. The meme featured a character from a beloved children’s book series gunning down people in boats, with a headline that reads “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists,”

Trump's Secretary of "War," Pete Hegseth, thinks it's funny to joke about killing people. No sane military leader thinks that's funny, even in wartime. Hegseth is a seriously disturbed person. And so is Trump.Especially since they have no evidence of guilt.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-12-01T10:31:36.121Z

So Hegseth thinks it’s funny to joke about killing people. No sane military leader thinks that’s funny. Even in wartime reputable officers and soldiers are averse to the death of fellow human beings. Hegseth, on the other hand, is a seriously disturbed person with a sick affinity for slaughtering strangers at sea. And so is Trump. Especially since they have no evidence of guilty conduct.

Trump was asked about the reports that Hegseth ordered a second bombing of a boat in order to “kill everyone” aboard, including survivors of the first strike, which is unambiguously a war crime. Trump replied that “I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not a second strike.” But he still defended Hegseth’s actions and denial of any wrongdoing. However, committing war crimes is consistent with Hegseth’s views on combat. Media Matters compiled several comments he made defending war crimes, and the soldiers who committed them, while working at Fox News.

Trump and his administration cronies are actively trying to cover up and distort reports about these crimes. But Congress is preparing to investigate further with members of both parties interested in acquiring more details and testimony. That is not likely to exonerate either Hegseth or Trump. And it certainly doesn’t excuse the sort of vile behavior displayed by Hegseth in posting his Franklin meme.

What is likely is that Trump et al are using this scandal to distract the American people from Trump’s abysmal failure to serve the interests of the people. The economy is in freefall. Prices are for everything from groceries to housing to healthcare are skyrocketing. And the families of neighbors are being ripped apart for no good reason. Is it any wonder that Trump’s approval polling continues a steep slide into the abyss of presidential polling? According to CNN’s polling analyst, Harry Enten…

“Trump is at the lowest point he is in his second term. […] Anywhere you look this is the second worst [after Nixon] for either party at this point in their second term dating all the way back since the 1940s.”

But hey…Trump will get a huge new ballroom, a jet plane from Qatar, and billions from his crypto grift ops. So it’s all worth it, right? Right? RIGHT?

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Is Trump’s Secretary of ‘War’ Outlining Plans to Deploy the Military to Steal the Next Election?

In case anyone is still unconvinced that Donald Trump is plotting to make himself America’s first dictator, some comments made by his Secretary of “War” (a fake Cabinet post), Pete Hegseth, ought to clear it all up. That’s if Trump’s authoritarian moves to invade American cities, illegally impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners, prosecute (persecute) his political foes, ignore judicial rulings, and suppress the media, haven’t already done the trick.

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji

Trump has demonstrated that he has no respect whatsoever for the United States Constitution or the principles it has represented for more than two centuries. And that disrespect is being parroted by Hegseth, whose recent edicts banishing the free press from the Pentagon are only the beginning of the Trump regime’s crusade to undermine democracy.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Secretary of War on the Press, Pete Hegseth, Is Rebuked By the Media He’s Trying to Censor

On Friday Hegseth joined Trump for a press avail at the White House where he engaged in the following exchange with a reporter…

Question: A memo circulating on social media details the establishment of a National Guard Response Force that’s going to be trained in crowd control and civil unrest and deployed in all 50 states by April of 2026. Can you verify the authenticity of that memo, and do you have any more information on the operation?
Hegseth: I’m not going to answer particulars on something that may be in the planning process. But we definitely do have multiple layers of National Guard response forces in each state…and we will [deploy them] when necessary.”

What Trump's Secretary of "War," Pete Hegseth, is not denying is the Trump regime's plans to undermine democracy in upcoming elections.The military has no legal role in domestic crowd control or civil unrest. Unless they intend to be propping up a wannabe king. #NoKings!

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-10-24T09:58:56.336Z

It is impossible to ignore the fact that Hegseth did not disavow the report about the ominously named “National Guard Response Force.” To the contrary, he confirmed that it “definitely” exists. What possible reason could Trump and Hegseth have for forming such a force? It has never existed before. And the timing puts it smack in the middle of the 2026 election season.

It is not much of a stretch to speculate that Trump has tasked Hegseth with leading a mission to obstruct the will of the people should they vote to remove Republicans as the majority party in Congress. Many polls currently show that Democrats have a good chance of prevailing in both the House and the Senate. And wannabe king Trump simply can’t allow that to happen.

On January 6, 2021, Trump incited a deadly insurrection in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to hold on to power after President Biden beat him. Trump later pardoned the 1,500 rioters, making them available for future violent uprisings, and reassuring them and others that they would be similarly protected should they riot again.

More recently, GOP House Speaker, Mike Johnson, has been stubbornly refusing to swear in a newly elected Democratic representative. Many people are accusing him of trying avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files. That’s possible. But another possibility is that he is testing his ability to block Democrats from taking control of the House if they win a majority next November.

Hegseth’s admission that he is ready to deploy a military force in all 50 states if “necessary” should trouble every patriotic American. We should all seek clarification as to what he means by “necessary.” But more importantly, every American must resist any attempts by Hegseth, Trump, or the rest of the MAGA regime, to steal our votes and deprive us of our democratic free will. This is not a drill!

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Trump’s Secretary of War on the Press, Pete Hegseth, Is Rebuked By the Media He’s Trying to Censor

The most anti-free press regime in American history, led by Donald “The Media is the Enemy of the People” Trump, is once again proving how out of touch it is with the principles of the Constitution and its First Amendment prohibition against “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

Click here to post this article on Twitter or Click here to post on Bluesky

Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji

When Donald Trump made Pete Hegseth his Secretary of “War,” he was installing a flunky who he knew would obey his every command, no matter how averse to the law or morality. And Hegseth proved his fealty to Trump last month when he issued a decree demanding that the press must swear a Trumpian loyalty oath before being allowed access to the Pentagon or to military leaders who work for the American people. It was such a repugnant proposal that even Trump was against it when he first heard about it.

SEE THIS: Trump Smacks Down His Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Over His Loyalty Pledge on the Free Press

Of course, Trump, in his perpetual state of ignorance and/or dementia, likely had no idea what the new rules imposed by Hegseth meant. But they were consistent with his twisted mindset, believing that he can dictate what the media reports about him. The mandate that Hegseth imposed on the press forbids them to do any investigative reporting, interviewing, or to publish any stories that haven’t been pre-approved by Hegseth’s Pentagon overlords.

Under this decree, reporters would be required to have an approved Pentagon escort when in the building. And should they refuse to sign the oath, they risk losing their press credentials. Hegseth claimed that the new rules boiled down to three tenets:

  • The press no longer roams free. Hegseth’s explicit dismissal of the free press.
  • The press must wear visible badges. Unlike Trump’s badgeless, masked ICE thugs.
  • Credentialed press is no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. Which they have never been permitted to do.

When a government agency threatens to revoke the credentials of news organizations that don’t obey their edicts, you don’t have a free press. You have a fascist dictatorship that obviously has some very troubling things to hide. Consequently, Hegseth’s decree was roundly rejected. Several major news outlets condemned the new rules and refused to sign. They include ABC News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, The Atlantic, and NPR.

Even the ultra-MAGA outlets Newsmax and the Washington Times declined to sign. The shamelessly Trump-fluffing One America News Network (OAN) is the only outlet that, so far, has agreed to go along with Hegseth’s Hegemony. And surprisingly, Fox News, Hegseth’s previous employer, was one of those that would not sign on. That’s gotta sting. In a joint statement, the resisting media said that…

“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.

“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”

It will be interesting to see if Hegseth and the Pentagon stick to this censorious initiative. Or if Trump bothers to weigh in. In the meantime, they have affirmed just how much they despise the free press. And considering everything they have to hide – including Trump’s lawlessness, his administration’s massively unpopular agenda, and of course, the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files – it’s no wonder they hate even the thought of a free press.

RELATED STORIES:

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Bluesky and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.