A routine national security briefing took an unexpected turn Tuesday when The Daily Wire’s White House Correspondent, Mary Margaret Olohan, pressed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on reports of so-called “kamikaze dolphins,” prompting a moment of levity inside the room.
Olohan, asking about conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, raised both the issue of naval mines and the unusual reports circulating about weaponized marine animals. “For Secretary Hegseth, are there still concerns about mines in the strait,” she asked, “and can you kind of clarify these reports of kamikaze dolphins that we’ve heard about?”
Hegseth initially reacted with surprised laughter: “What?!”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine interjected, joking, “I haven’t heard the kamikaze dolphins thing — it’s like sharks with laser beams, right?” referencing the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
Hegseth continued the lighthearted exchange before pivoting back to substance. “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins,” he said, drawing laughter, “but I can confirm they don’t.”
Despite the humor, Hegseth addressed the underlying concern, noting that U.S. and allied forces are maintaining safe maritime conditions in the region.
“Ultimately, any follow-on effort, if there are mines identified, would be something that some of our units could undertake or the world could undertake,” he said. “But right now, we know we have a lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through.” The exchange comes amid renewed attention on the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, as tensions with Iran continue to simmer.
Recent reports have suggested that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has explored unconventional tactics to disrupt shipping in the region, including the potential use of trained dolphins equipped with explosives. Iran has previously acquired marine mammals trained by the Soviet Union, with programs that included attaching devices such as mines or harpoon launchers for naval operations.
While such claims remain speculative, they reflect broader concerns about asymmetric tactics in the region as Tehran weighs responses to ongoing economic pressure and maritime restrictions.
For a brief moment, however, those concerns gave way to humor, with Olohan’s question cutting through the formality of the briefing room and producing one of the more memorable exchanges of the day.
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