{"id":69054,"date":"2026-03-13T14:02:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69054"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:02:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:02:03","slug":"trumps-secretary-of-wars-pete-hegseth-openly-yearns-for-government-control-of-the-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69054","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s Secretary of Wars, Pete Hegseth, Openly Yearns For Government Control of the Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Trump's Secretary of Wars, Pete Hegseth, Openly Yearns For Government Control of the Media%0D&#038;url=https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69054\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to post this article on Twitter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/intent\/compose?text=Trump's Secretary of Wars, Pete Hegseth, Openly Yearns For Government Control of the Media%20https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69054\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to post on Bluesky<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/Pix\/Repub\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg\" alt=\"Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji\" width=\"550\" height=\"296\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64199\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the war against Iran, that Trump says he has already won and can end any time wants (but doesn&#8217;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&#8217;s Secretary of <em>&#8220;Wars,&#8221;<\/em> Pete Hegseth, is laser focused on the <em>&#8220;excursion&#8221;<\/em> (as Trump calls it), and is managing the conflict exactly as you might expect a former Fox New host to do&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE THIS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69048\" target=\"_blank\">Pete Hegseth, Trump\u2019s Secretary of \u2018Wah\u2019 is a Crybaby Who Bans \u2018Unflattering\u2019 Photos of Himself<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;s going on in Iran. This time was no different as Hegseth sought to portray any bad news as <em>&#8220;fake,&#8221;<\/em> while assuming the facade of a macho war gamer in his mom&#8217;s basement (video below). For instance&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies. Yet some in this crew, in the press, just can&#8217;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.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For the record, according to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/pete-hegseth-calls-no-quarter-155217625.html\" target=\"_blank\">international humanitarian law<\/a><\/strong>, orders to give <em>&#8220;no quarter, no mercy,&#8221;<\/em> are regarded as war crimes. And Hegseth&#8217;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&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;More fake news from CNN: &#8216;Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war&#8217;s impact on the Strait of Hormuz.&#8217; 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&#8217;t think we thought of that. It&#8217;s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.&#8217;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If the Trump regime did anticipate that Iran would block the Strait, then why didn&#8217;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&#8217;s what it seems like based on another comment by Hegseth, who said that <em>&#8220;The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping.&#8221;<\/em> Really? What an enlightening update. Thanks Captain Obvious.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth then added that the Strait would be <em>&#8220;open for transit if Iran didn&#8217;t do that.&#8221;<\/em> That&#8217;s true. But it&#8217;s like saying that Mar-a-Lago would be open for pedophiles if Trump&#8230;Oh wait. It already is!<\/p>\n<p>Even worse was Hegseth&#8217;s view that <em>&#8220;The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.&#8221;<\/em> 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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68642\" target=\"_blank\">right-wing bias that critics of the merger have warned about<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth&#8217;s official DoD Twitter account was apparently proud of his remarks about Iran and the media. It posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DOWResponse\/status\/2032433108440449301\" target=\"_blank\">tweet<\/a> saying that <em>&#8220;SECWAR JUST LIT UP THE FAKE NEWS:&#8221;<\/em> Perhaps in their own imaginations. More realistically, Hegseth just provided more proof of his dishonesty and disrespect for the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s more, Hegseth was saying all of this in a press room where he has previously banned most of the media that isn&#8217;t already MAGA-friendly. Among the <em>&#8220;reporters&#8221;<\/em> in the room were those from Trump-fluffing networks such as Lindell TV, One America News, and Real America News. So it&#8217;s no wonder that there wasn&#8217;t any serious pushback or follow ups.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hegseth: No quarter, no mercy for our enemies. Yet some in the press just can&#39;t stop. More fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war&#39;s impact on the strait of hormuz. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BehjVYK0Hy\">pic.twitter.com\/BehjVYK0Hy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Acyn\/status\/2032430383426683089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p><strong>RELATED STORIES&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68984\" target=\"_blank\">Pete Hegseth Callously Dismisses American Fatalities as the Press \u2018Wanting to Make Trump Look Bad\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69051\" target=\"_blank\">Trump Says He Knows Where Iranian Sleeper Cells Are in the U.S. But He Isn\u2019t Going After Them?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69041\" target=\"_blank\">The Trump Regime Takes Putin at His Word About Russia Aiding Iran but Wanting to Help the U.S.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse<br \/>\non <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NewsCorpse\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsCorpse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/newscorpse.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\">Bluesky<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@newscorpse\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Threads<\/a>.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>And check out my books on Amazon:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2aOYFpM\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\">Fox Nation vs. Reality:<br \/>\nThe Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>Thanks so much for your support.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,684,8,16],"tags":[554,716,95,1509,1130,1133],"class_list":["post-69054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-free-press","category-media-bias","category-propaganda","category-wankery","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-media","tag-media-bias","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-propaganda"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-hXM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69048,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69048","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":0},"title":"Pete Hegseth, Trump&#8217;s Secretary of &#8216;Wah&#8217; is a Crybaby Who Bans &#8216;Unflattering&#8217; Photos of Himself","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/11\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Censorship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Censorship","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=56"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump baby and Pete Hegseth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68984,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68984","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":1},"title":"Pete Hegseth Callously Dismisses American Fatalities as the Press &#8216;Wanting to Make Trump Look Bad&#8217;","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/4\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69643,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69643","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":2},"title":"Pete Hegseth Likens Trump to Jesus Performing Miracles, and the Media as Unpatriotic Pharisees","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/16\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This week Donald Trump openly expressed his delusional vision of himself in a meme posted to his dedicated propaganda platform, Truth Social, as a Jesus-like figure using his divine healing powers to cure a bedridden man. It was a depiction so offensive that he was eventually persuaded to delete it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump Messiah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-messiah.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-messiah.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-messiah.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68495,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68495","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":3},"title":"Is Secretary of &#8216;War&#8217; Pete Hegseth Covering Up the War Crimes that He and Trump Have Committed?","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/16\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Crime&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Crime","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1475"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69164,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69164","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":4},"title":"Pete Hegseth Grasps at Fantasy that Americans Back Trump&#8217;s Iran War, While Attacking the Media","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/19\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Free Press&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump baby and Pete Hegseth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-hegseth-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66824,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=66824","url_meta":{"origin":69054,"position":5},"title":"Pentagon IG: Pete Hegseth Disclosed Classified Info During His Signal Chat &#8211; Fox News Buries It","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/25\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The fate of the Defense Secretary that Donald Trump plucked from Fox News is becoming more untenable with every day that he is tainting that noble office. Pete Hegseth was never qualified to run a toy soldier parade, much less the largest bureaucracy in the United States government. And particularly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pete Hegseth with Drunk Emoji","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/hegseth-drunk-emoji.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69054"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69057,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69054\/revisions\/69057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}