President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are on the cusp of striking a &#8220;mega deal&#8221; that would send battle-tested Ukrainian drones to the United States in exchange for Kyiv receiving another batch of weapons from Washington, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/17/us-news/trump-zelensky-discuss-drone-mega-deal-for-us-to-buy-battle-ready-ukraine-uavs/">reported</a> on Thursday.
Zelensky revealed the potential deal in a discussion with the Post, saying, &#8220;The people of America need this [drone] technology, and you need to have it in your arsenal.&#8221; If a deal is struck, Ukraine also promised to share information with the United States on what it has learned about modern warfare during the conflict with Russia, according to Zelensky.
“I think this is really a mega deal, a win-win, as they say,” he said.
The White House did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request to comment.
Throughout the war, Ukraine&#8217;s drone fleet has proved to be vital in defending the country from Russia&#8217;s aerial assaults. Kyiv&#8217;s drones have also been used to launch attacks on Russia. Last month, Ukraine smuggled 117 drones into Russia, which were used for a massive assault on Russian air bases, taking out 41 Russian aircraft, including roughly one-third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-ukraine-pulled-off-its-massive-drone-strike-inside-russia">reported</a>.
The United States military has fallen behind its adversaries, including Russia and China, in producing drones and training troops to use them in battle, according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/business/drones-us-military-manufacturing-lags.html">report</a> earlier this week from The New York Times. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged that the United States must catch up on drone warfare technology and <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2025/Jul/10/2003752117/-1/-1/1/UNLEASHING-U.S.-MILITARY-DRONE-DOMINANCE.PDF">moved</a> last week to rescind “restrictive policies” and &#8220;red tape&#8221; getting in the way &#8220;of American manufacturing and warfighter ingenuity.&#8221;
“So while our adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones before us, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape. Not anymore,” Hegseth said in a video filmed alongside U.S. military members outside the Pentagon.
&#8220;In June, President Trump issued an executive order unleashing American drone dominance to bolster our drone industry and arm our warfighters because that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re all about,&#8221; he added.
Hegseth said that the move includes bolstering &#8220;the nascent U.S. drone manufacturing base by approving hundreds of American products for purchase by our military.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance <a href="https://twitter.com/DOGE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DOGE</a> <a href="https://t.co/esaQtswwDb">pic.twitter.com/esaQtswwDb</a>
&mdash; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1943748870993064004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump&#8217;s relationship with Zelensky has grown warmer in recent weeks after the Ukrainian president was blasted in the Oval Office in February for his continued requests for American assistance. Earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-have-to-trump-to-send-ukraine-more-defensive-weapons?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98We+Have+To%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+To+Send+Ukraine+More+Defensive+Weapons">vowed</a> to send Ukraine more defensive weapons as Moscow ratchets up attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“They are getting hit very hard. … We’re gonna have to send more weapons,&#8221; Trump said, adding, “I’m disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn’t stopped.”

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky

Trump Considering ‘Mega Deal’ To Exchange Drones, Weapons With Zelensky

Donald Trump

Drones

Military

Pete Hegseth

Politics

U.S. Military

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

Volodymyr Zelensky

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed reports on Tuesday that the United States Defense Department would not have any representation at the upcoming &#8220;globalist&#8221; Aspen Security Forum.
As <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/security/pentagon-pulls-all-military-speakers-globalist-aspen-security-forum">reported</a> by Jerry Dunleavy at Just the News, the Pentagon pulled &#8220;roughly a dozen high-ranking U.S. military officials&#8221; who were initially scheduled to speak at the elite security forum, citing the organization&#8217;s left-wing bias.
Hegseth posted a screenshot of Dunleavy&#8217;s headline with just one word of affirmation: &#8220;Correct.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Correct. <a href="https://t.co/tbi8vvTWBu">pic.twitter.com/tbi8vvTWBu</a>
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1944799112840278182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told the outlet, &#8220;The Department of Defense has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home.&#8221;
&#8220;They are antithetical to the America First values of this administration. Senior representatives of the Department of Defense will no longer be participating in an event that promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States,&#8221; she added.
According to Dunleavy&#8217;s report, approximately a dozen officials were slated to speak at the event — including the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Navy Secretary John Phelan — but as of this past weekend, none will be attending.
&#8220;Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,&#8221; Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced on Monday. &#8220;The Department will remain strong in its focus to increase the lethality of our warfighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project Peace Through Strength on the world stage. It is clear the ASF is not in alignment with these goals.&#8221;
The Aspen Institute, according to right-leaning think tank The Capital Research Center, spent more than $95 million in 2022 alone on &#8220;addressing issues including economic distress, educational opportunity, environmentalism, and the left-wing concept of racial justice.&#8221;
Since taking over the helm at the Pentagon, Hegseth has made it his mission to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-dont-play-your-little-games-hegseth-smokes-reporter-asking-why-he-didnt-mention-female-pilot">strip politics</a> from the military and the Defense Department, arguing that social experimentation has no place in the DoD.

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth Holds Pentagon Press Conference On Iran Strikes

Hegseth Yanks U.S. Military Participants From ‘Globalist’ Security Forum

Global Politics

Security

The Pentagon is cutting bureaucratic hurdles to unleash “American drone dominance” and outcompete hostile powers such as China and Russia.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a slate of reforms to jolt U.S. production of drones and equip U.S. service members with the skills to use them effectively. The Department of Defense posted a video on social media Thursday of Hegseth signing orders delivered by drone.
“While our adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones before us, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape. Not anymore,” Hegseth said. 
After noting that President Donald Trump signed an executive <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/06/president-trump-signs-executive-orders-on-drones-flying-cars-and-supersonics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> in June to energize the drone industry in the United States, Hegseth said, &#8220;Today, I&#8217;m rescinding restrictive policies that stifle production. And this will unleash American manufacturing and the ingenuity of our war fighters.”
The Pentagon’s newest drone strategy has three main pillars, according to Hegseth. First, the Department of Defense will prioritize buying American-made drones to help expand drone-making on the domestic front.
Second, Hegseth said the military would leverage the United States’ &#8220;world-leading engineers and AI experts&#8221; to arm combat units with drones. And third, the secretary plans to stamp out a risk-averse mindset that he suggested has held back senior military staff from innovating with drones.
“We&#8217;re going to train as we expect to fight,” Hegseth said. “Senior officers must overcome bureaucratic risk aversion in budgeting, weaponing, weaponeering, and training.”
“This is the future. We&#8217;re in the fight. We&#8217;re in the fight to win it. And we’re never going to back down,” he concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance <a href="https://twitter.com/DOGE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DOGE</a> <a href="https://t.co/ueqQPc7rKI">pic.twitter.com/ueqQPc7rKI</a>
&mdash; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1943401411431026977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Hegseth’s orders will allow for the first time commanders with the ranks of colonel or captain to obtain and test drones that meet national security standards, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hegseth-tears-up-red-tape-orders-pentagon-begin-drone-surge-trumps-command">Fox News</a>, which first obtained the memos signed on Thursday. The orders also cut through a series of approval processes so that the drones may be tested immediately.
The orders reclassified drones from being durable military assets to consumables, taking them out of bureaucratic tracking systems and allowing faster acquisition. The orders also directed military officials to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration on expanding range restrictions where needed and setting up sites for military training in drone use.
Drones have recently played major roles in the Ukraine-Russia war and in the Middle East. 
Ukraine and Russia used drones to attack and hamper each other’s forces. Israel employed drones as part of its &#8220;Operation Rising Lion&#8221; to damage Iran’s military command structure and nuclear program.

Hegseth Unleashes U.S. Military ‘Drone Dominance’

U.S. Military To Unleash ‘American Drone Dominance’ To Compete With China, Russia

Pentagon

United States

Defense Department Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson torched The Atlantic over a hit piece claiming that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is making policy changes that will effectively &#8220;sideline&#8221; women in the military.
Staff writer Missy Ryan shared the article along with the following tease line, on X: &#8220;NEW: Will Pete Hegseth&#8217;s &#8216;War on Woke&#8217; sideline women in the military? A team appointed by Hegseth to look at fitness/combat standards will review and possibly redo the &#8216;women in combat&#8217; study that led to the integration of ground combat roles 10 yrs ago.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: Will Pete Hegseth&#8217;s &#8216;War on Woke&#8217; sideline women in the military? A team appointed by Hegseth to look at fitness/combat standards will review and possibly redo the &#8216;women in combat&#8217; study that led to the integration of ground combat roles 10 yrs ago. <a href="https://t.co/HlQo4B1Bzi">https://t.co/HlQo4B1Bzi</a>
— Missy Ryan (@missy_ryan) <a href="https://twitter.com/missy_ryan/status/1943298384762425494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The article suggested that Hegseth was so driven to remove &#8220;woke&#8221; culture from the military that he was willing to undo years of &#8220;progress&#8221; that had ultimately led to women serving in combat roles.
Wilson responded first by mocking the outlet for apparently updating the article with a new headline, and suggested that its first effort had not been &#8220;woke&#8221; enough.
&#8220;.@TheAtlantic headline wasn&#8217;t woke enough so they changed it,&#8221; she posted, sharing screenshots of the original and the update, in side-by-side format.
The original headline read, &#8220;Will Pete Hegseth&#8217;s &#8216;War On Woke&#8217; Sideline Women?&#8221; — and the updated version read, &#8220;The Backdoor Way That Pete Hegseth Could Keep Women Out Of Combat.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAtlantic</a> headline wasn&#8217;t woke enough so they changed it. <a href="https://t.co/2gKhbWctoy">https://t.co/2gKhbWctoy</a> <a href="https://t.co/jL6xMhYD6j">pic.twitter.com/jL6xMhYD6j</a>
— Kingsley Wilson (@PressSecDOD) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSecDOD/status/1943336054389436886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In a follow-up post, Wilson noted that she had given the outlet a comment for the story — but that it had been selectively edited prior to publication.
&#8220;.@TheAtlantic also didn&#8217;t want to run my whole statement because it would have discredited their story,&#8221; she said, sharing the full statement: &#8216;Military standards across the board have largely been ignored by leadership of the past. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, the U.S. military is getting back to basics and restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards for combat arms positions will be elite, uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn&#8217;t care if you&#8217;re a man or a woman. We will not compromise our standards to satisfy quotas or an ideological agenda—this is common sense.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAtlantic</a> also didn&#8217;t want to run my whole statement because it would have discredited their story:
“Military standards across the board have largely been ignored by leadership of the past. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, the U.S. military is getting back to… <a href="https://t.co/6I2rK5CGqo">https://t.co/6I2rK5CGqo</a>
— Kingsley Wilson (@PressSecDOD) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSecDOD/status/1943336313417015519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The only part of Wilson&#8217;s statement that was used was her description of  to goal standards for combat positions: &#8220;elite, uniform, and sex neutral, because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man or a woman.&#8221;

President Trump Visits Fort Bragg To Honor U.S. Forces

Defense Department Press Secretary Torches The Atlantic For Selectively Editing Statement

Combat

Media

The Atlantic

Women

WASHINGTON—The Defense Department is withdrawing the nomination of Rear Adm. Michael &#8220;Buzz&#8221; Donnelly, The Daily Wire can first report, under whose command drag performances took place on board the USS Ronald Reagan.
Donnelly served as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier from April 2016 to September 2018, during which time Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley performed as a drag queen under the name &#8220;Harpy Daniels&#8221; at a department-sanctioned &#8220;Morale, Welfare, and Recreation&#8221; event on the aircraft carrier.
The Defense Department <a href="https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2025-06-24/7th-fleet-nomination-buzz-donnelly-18232720.html">announced </a><a href="https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2025-06-24/7th-fleet-nomination-buzz-donnelly-18232720.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on June 18</a> that President Donald Trump had nominated Donnelly for promotion to vice admiral and an appointment as commander of the 7th Fleet, the largest overseas force that the Navy has.
Following inquiries from The Daily Wire about Donnelly and the drag queen shows he permitted on board the USS Ronald Reagan, a source at the Defense Department said that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is withdrawing Donnelly&#8217;s nomination to lead the 7th Fleet.
Hegseth is looking for a new 7th Fleet commander, the source shared.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This dude got his start doing drag shows on the USS Ronald Reagan in 2017.
The commander of the Reagan in 17, Michael P. Donnelly, is up for promotion now. Thankfully, <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTuberville?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenTuberville</a> is holding up his nom over the Pentagon funding abortions.
This is a fight worth having. <a href="https://t.co/WkeZuySz6e">https://t.co/WkeZuySz6e</a>
— William Thibeau (@WilliamThibeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamThibeau/status/1653799409530855424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
Donnelly drew national attention in 2023 when Sen. Tommy Tuberville held up his promotion to rear admiral as part of his blockade on Defense Department promotions. The Alabama Republican was fighting President Joe Biden&#8217;s policy providing three weeks of paid leave and reimbursement of travel expenses for military personnel and their dependents who wanted abortions.
Tuberville argued that the policy was one of many taxpayer-funded Defense Department initiatives unrelated to the agency&#8217;s mission of protecting the United States. He called on the former Navy leadership in a May 2023 letter to name the officers responsible for funding and promoting drag queen performances.
<div id="attachment_945215" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-pentagon-ditches-admiral-who-allowed-drag-queen-performances-on-aircraft-carrier/231126-n-ty650-1169" rel="attachment wp-att-945215"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-945215" class="wp-image-945215 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-461x576.jpeg" alt="Defense Department photo of Admiral Donnelly. " width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-461x576.jpeg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-240x300.jpeg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-1639x2048.jpeg 1639w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/231126-N-TY650-1169-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /></a>Defense Department photo of Admiral Donnelly.</div>
A number of legacy media outlets, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/navy-drag-queen-harpy-daniels-serving-looks-country-n905056">including NBC</a> and the Military Times, had highlighted the drag shows that occurred during Donnelly&#8217;s tour.
&#8220;Navy drag queen &#8216;Harpy Daniels&#8217; is serving looks — and the country,&#8221; NBC headlined their story. The Military Times report was replete with photos of Kelley in drag, including one where he is doing a split in front of his fellow service members.
This type of significant press attention would have been &#8220;a standard reporting requirement directly to Captain Donnelly at the time,&#8221; William Thibeau, director of The American Military Project at The Claremont Institute, <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/05/19/tuberville-blocking-promotion-navy-captain-who-allowed-drag-shows-uss-ronald-reagan/">told The Daily Signal at the time</a>.
<div class="tds-content">
&#8220;Every military officer takes command of units large and small with the understanding they are responsible for everything that does and does not happen under their command,&#8221; Thibeau explained in 2023. &#8220;It&#8217;s the basic truth of military leadership, whether you command an infantry company or an aircraft carrier.&#8221;
&#8220;The USS Ronald Reagan drag shows of 2017 and 2018 were not random acts of entertainment for sailors, but were sanctioned Navy programs under the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) department of the ship,&#8221; he noted. &#8220;As commander of the ship, Captain Donnelly would have been ultimately responsible for this program.&#8221;
</div>
Donnelly is a 2002 graduate of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and served as commanding officer for Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154), the last commanding officer of USS Denver deployed to Sasebo, Japan, commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan deployed to Yokosuka, Japan and commander of Task Force Seven Zero/Carrier Strike Group Five.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Testifies In Senate Hearing

EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Ditches Admiral Who Allowed Drag Queen Performances On Aircraft Carrier

Drag Queens

With the signing of the Big Beautiful Bill in the rearview mirror, most media networks pivoted back to panicking over the tariffs that are set to &#8220;boomerang&#8221; back to the levels initially set by President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration by August 1 — but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the opportunity to talk about where the Defense Department is headed under his leadership.
For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
Hegseth spoke with the president&#8217;s daughter-in-law on &#8220;My View&#8221; with Lara Trump, and he addressed the controversy over the recent strike on Iranian nuclear targets — carried out by the United States Air Force — in addition to laying out some of his goals for the military in the coming months.
One of the key points Hegseth brought up was how he saw President Trump giving him free reign to do what was best for American service members.
&#8220;I wish everybody could have the opportunity to watch how President Trump operates. How he truly puts America first in EVERY scenario,&#8221; Hegseth explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> joined <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaraLeaTrump</a>
Sec. Hegseth: “I wish everybody could have the opportunity to watch how President Trump operates.
How he truly puts America first in EVERY scenario.” <a href="https://t.co/I4lIRXQ1n2">pic.twitter.com/I4lIRXQ1n2</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941667228530651559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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As he has in previous statements, Hegseth addressed the military&#8217;s physical training standards, promising to deliver on his promise to raise the standards across the board. &#8220;We&#8217;re trying to set the standard and raise the standard,&#8221; Hegseth said, arguing that PT was &#8220;one of the most basic things&#8221; that the military did — and noted it didn&#8217;t matter whether the service members were male or female, their responsibilities would still be the same.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
OUR STANDARDS WILL BE HIGH. <a href="https://t.co/7NrjZpvsrg">pic.twitter.com/7NrjZpvsrg</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941669472013520967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Hegseth, a decorated Army National Guard veteran himself, jabbed at previous Defense Secretaries, many of whom were so far removed from the rank and file by the time they&#8217;d achieved that position that it often seemed they were out of touch with the troops they&#8217;d been charged with leading.
&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t that long ago I was in their shoes (our military), feeling like someone like the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the Army, feeling like they are so detached they can&#8217;t understand,&#8221; Hegseth said, explaining why he made a point of doing PT with the troops as he traveled from base to base around the world. &#8220;I&#8217;ve tried to close that gap.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t that long ago I was in their shoes (our military), feeling like someone like the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the Army, feeling like they are so detached they can&#8217;t understand.
I&#8217;ve tried to close that gap.” <a href="https://t.co/kqWvjvlfjG">pic.twitter.com/kqWvjvlfjG</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941672209367306579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump got a taste of what service members go through on a regular basis, joining the Defense Secretary in a PT session with the troops as well.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaraLeaTrump</a> joined America&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> for PT <a href="https://t.co/QbfLT1tuIa">pic.twitter.com/QbfLT1tuIa</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941672426686812411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Hegseth took some of the time to talk about the recent strikes on Iran, saying that the overall success of Operation Midnight Hammer had shown &#8220;the skill and capabilities of the United States Military.&#8221;
&#8220;The rest of the world paid attention too,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Other countries noticed what America can do.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaraLeaTrump</a> &#8220;Walk us through what you can of this mission (Operation Midnight Hammer) and why it was so significant.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> &#8220;It shows you the skill and capabilities of the United States Military&#8230;
The rest of the world paid attention to. Other countries noticed what… <a href="https://t.co/f4n8Il1Aj6">pic.twitter.com/f4n8Il1Aj6</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941673876246716600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump asked Hegseth about the legacy media reports that had undercut the mission&#8217;s success, citing Iranian sources that had claimed the nuclear targets had not actually been destroyed.
&#8220;They are so deranged by President Trump (the fake news) they HAVE TO FIND A WAY to undermine him,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> on the legacy media reporting of Operation Midnight:
&#8220;They are so deranged by President Trump (the fake news) they HAVE TO FIND A WAY to undermine him.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/BhLC3vr3E5">pic.twitter.com/BhLC3vr3E5</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941677809266491600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The overall message that Hegseth wanted to share was simple: President Donald Trump had American service members top of mind when he made decisions about what the military was going to do or how certain actions would be carried out.
&#8220;Watching President Trump make those decisions reveals again the core that everybody knows and loves about him. Which is that he puts America and Americans FIRST,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Our warfighters can sleep at night knowing that their commander-in-chief has their back.
. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> &#8220;Watching President Trump make those decisions reveals again the core that everybody knows and loves about him.
Which is that he puts America and Americans FIRST.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/c9NRjyMTfh">pic.twitter.com/c9NRjyMTfh</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941675235176046798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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As for his goals for the remainder of President Trump&#8217;s second term in office, Hegseth made it clear that he was keeping things simple: his plan, he told Trump, was to &#8220;keep going.&#8221;
&#8220;Driving change into institutions is a difficult thing to do,&#8221; he said, but noted that the military — across all branches — was already seeing a positive response to the changes in record-setting recruitment numbers. &#8220;There&#8217;s still resistance to change in certain places &#8230; Washington, D.C., can be very good at paying too much and taking too long. And if you have a businessman — which we do, as commander in chief — he has an expectation that we get it under cost and faster. So there&#8217;s a ton of work left to be done.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaraLeaTrump</a> &#8220;What are your goals going forward over the next three and a half years?&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> &#8220;KEEP GOING.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/5vOvxooTtz">pic.twitter.com/5vOvxooTtz</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1941678271805968803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Defense Secretary Hegseth Testifies Before House Appropriations Subcommittee

Spin Cycle: While Most Pivot Back To Tariffs, Pete Hegseth Gives Update On Defense Priorities

Lara Trump

Tariffs

The United States Air Force and Space Force announced that they had smashed through their 2025 recruiting goals three months ahead of schedule — following similar reports from both the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/less-woke-more-lethal-military-hits-major-milestones-under-trump-and-hegseth">Army</a> and the Navy several weeks earlier.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin shared the news in a post on X, saying, &#8220;People are lining up and signing up! I’m proud to announce the Air Force hit 100% of its Fiscal Year 2025 recruiting goal three months early. It proves when you have a winning team, people want to join!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
People are lining up and signing up! I’m proud to announce the Air Force hit 100% of its Fiscal Year 2025 recruiting goal three months early. It proves when you have a winning team, people want to join! <a href="https://t.co/BMoZU9Ozqo">https://t.co/BMoZU9Ozqo</a> <a href="https://t.co/WD6vgFojlZ">pic.twitter.com/WD6vgFojlZ</a>
— General David Allvin (@OfficialCSAF) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialCSAF/status/1939801309269696863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;When you have a winning team, people want to join!&#8221; Allvin said in an <a href="https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4230316/air-force-and-space-force-exceed-annual-recruiting-goals-demonstrating-american/">official statement</a>. &#8220;This is shown through the Air Force’s record recruitment, and I’m proud we’ve hit 100% of our Fiscal Year 2025 goal three months early. The Air Force invests in our Airmen and patriotic Americans ready to serve have noticed and are lining up and signing up. That’s evident with the largest number of Special Warfare candidates awaiting training on record and the throngs of recruits motivated to start basic military training. We’re thrilled to welcome these warriors into our Air Force!&#8221;
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Space Force Chief of Space Operations, General Chance Saltzman, touted his branch&#8217;s success as well, saying, &#8220;Proud to share the Space Force met our annual recruiting goal three months early! Americans are excited about our mission, and the caliber of talent stepping up to serve in our ranks is nothing short of inspiring. Semper Supra!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Proud to share the Space Force met our annual recruiting goal three months early! Americans are excited about our mission, and the caliber of talent stepping up to serve in our ranks is nothing short of inspiring. Semper Supra! <a href="https://t.co/VaCEWMIbHX">pic.twitter.com/VaCEWMIbHX</a>
— General Chance Saltzman (@SpaceForceCSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceForceCSO/status/1939755254003695921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I&#8217;m incredibly proud the Space Force reached our Fiscal Year 2025 recruiting goal a full three months ahead of schedule,&#8221; Saltzman added. &#8220;This is the sixth consecutive year we&#8217;ve reached our target and filled our ranks with high caliber patriots. It’s clear Americans are excited about the Space Force, and this achievement is a direct reflection of the talent our mission continues to attract.&#8221;
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also addressed the military-wide boom in recruitment, saying, &#8220;Mr. President, I think we&#8217;re controversial because we&#8217;re over the target. You inherited a demoralized military that couldn&#8217;t recruit, perceived as weak. There has been nothing short of a recruiting Renaissance.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Mr. President, I think we&#8217;re controversial because we&#8217;re over the target. You inherited a demoralized military that couldn&#8217;t recruit, perceived as weak. There has been nothing short of a recruiting Renaissance.”
<a href="https://t.co/88BrSig0fY">pic.twitter.com/88BrSig0fY</a>
— America (@america) <a href="https://twitter.com/america/status/1917615859008430154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Future 30,000-pound bomb reaches mile stone

Air Force And Space Force Smash Recruiting Goals Three Months Early: ‘Lining Up And Signing Up!’

Air Force And Space Force Smash Recruiting Goals Three Months Early: 'Lining Up And Signing Up!'

Air Force

U.S.

United States Space Force

The legacy media have stonewalled letting President Trump have the win he deserves for his strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities. What President Trump did in Iran is one of the most historic wins of my lifetime.
Just to recap, Israel launched an overwhelming aerial assault on the Iranian facilities, nuclear and missile-based. They were going after ballistic missile development factories in Iran — their ballistic missile stockpiles, their missile launchers — as well as their nuclear facilities.
For nearly two weeks, Israel hammered the Iranians. But there was one facility in particular, Fordo, which was some 250-300 meters underground. And Israel did not have the ordnance capable of penetrating that facility. So President Trump authorized a B-2 strike using 30,000 pound bombs on Fordow, and in his words, “obliterated” the site.
The media won&#8217;t let that be the case, that President Trump used force to end the Iranian nuclear program and then declared the war over — and it was over.
It was, in fact, a historic win, and a win that we haven&#8217;t seen in American foreign policy in my lifetime: One strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities, a complete reshuffling of the deck in the Middle East with Israel as a regional powerhouse and Iran a supplicant, and no continuous war between Israel and Iran, no hot war continuing.
With no American casualties, by the way.
An amazing accomplishment.
But the media just won&#8217;t let President Trump have it. They won&#8217;t. They keep claiming over and over and over that, actually, maybe Fordo wasn&#8217;t destroyed. In fact, Fordo is fine. Maybe the Israeli-American effort was completely for naught, they claim.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2227-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
They have no basis upon which to say this, other than the word of Ayatollah Khamenei, who has been tweeting that everything is hunky dory from his bunker, presumably in Tehran, <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938180907887698222">claiming</a> with astonishing chutzpah: 
<blockquote>With all that commotion and all those claims, the Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.</blockquote>
You have to be high on drugs to believe this. He was literally hiding in a bunker for the entirety of the war. His regime was so weak that the Israeli Air Force was flying continuous sorties unhindered over Iranian airspace, with zero casualties on the IAF side, zero, for two weeks.
And yet <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938184845873844536">he says</a> that, in reality, the “Zionist regime,” Israel, was practically knocked out and crushed:
<blockquote>My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime. The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.</blockquote>
The Baghdad Bob aspect in the Middle East is always absurd to Westerners. Ayatollah Khomeini trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, at least in terms of public perception, does not mean that he was not, in fact, hammered or that the nuclear program is intact.
But Khamenei <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938185956793761808">tweeted out:</a>
<blockquote>The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the US’s face. It attacked and inflicted damage on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which is one of the key US bases in the region.</blockquote>
Nope. Actually, he called and he whined and begged the Qataris and the Americans to allow him to send a few missiles at the base, none of which actually hit.
Why am I telling you what Khamenei is saying? Because you&#8217;re hearing it echoed by the media. The New York Times and CNN reported that there was a Defense Intelligence Agency estimate that Fordo had not been knocked out, not been obliterated, not even been severely damaged.
It turned out that that was a low-confidence assessment by one of 18 intelligence agencies under the DIA. It didn’t matter. The media ran with it anyway. This became the top story in the media.
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How do we know that it&#8217;s stupid? According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/world/middleeast/centrifuges-fordo-damage-iran.html">UN nuclear watchdog</a> head, the director general of the IAEA, there was “no escaping significant physical damage after the U.S. strike on the Iranian facility.” Barak Ravid of Axios, a front man for Left-wing and isolationist agitprop coming out from various leak-driven parts of various administrations, <a href="https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/1938229914244682140">tweeted</a>, “I told Jake Tapper that a senior Israeli intelligence official told me that other than the word ‘obliterated’ the reality regarding the results of the attack on Iran is much closer to where Trump says it is than to where the initial DIA report said it was.”
All of this came to a head yesterday when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did a press conference. He crushed the fake news that&#8217;s been targeting President Trump, declaring:
<blockquote>Because you cheer against Trump so hard — it&#8217;s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad — you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren&#8217;t effective. Maybe the way the Trump administration represented them isn&#8217;t true. So let&#8217;s take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it. Spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.
This was an historically successful attack. We should celebrate it as Americans, and it gives us a chance to have peace, a chance to have a deal and an opportunity to prevent a nuclear Iran, which is something President Trump talked about for 20 years.</blockquote>
He was correct.
Hegseth wasn’t done. He called on Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, who&#8217;d been one of the people who reported this particular DIA assessment.
<blockquote>Griffin: Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordo mountain, or some of it, because there were satellite photos that showed more than a dozen trucks there two days in advance. Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?</blockquote>
<blockquote>Hegseth: Of course, we&#8217;re watching every single aspect. But, Jennifer, you&#8217;ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says.
Griffin: I was reporting about the ventilation shafts on Saturday night. And in fact, I was the first to describe the B-2 bombers, the refueling, the entire mission with great accuracy. So I take issue with that.
Hegseth: I appreciate you acknowledging that this was the most successful mission, based on operational security, that this department has done since you&#8217;ve been here. I appreciate that. So, we&#8217;re looking at all aspects of intelligence and making sure we have a sense of what was what.</blockquote>
Hegseth got feisty with the media, and a lot of it was deserved. Some of the questions he was asked were absolutely ridiculous. He was asked by a reporter about the fact that he had suggested that it was “brave boys” who flew the plane when one of the people in the plane was a woman, and here was his response:
<blockquote>So when I say something like our boys and bombers, see, this is the kind of thing the press does, right? Of course. The chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot. That&#8217;s fantastic. She&#8217;s fantastic. She&#8217;s a hero. I want more female bomber pilots. I hope the men and women of our country sign up to do such brave and audacious things.
But when you spin it as, because I say “our boys,” — and bombers is a common phrase — I&#8217;ll keep saying things like that, whether they&#8217;re men or women. Very proud of that female pilot. Just like I&#8217;m very proud of those male pilots. And I don&#8217;t care if it&#8217;s a male or a female in that cockpit, and the American people don&#8217;t care. But it&#8217;s the obsession with race and gender in this department that&#8217;s changed priorities. And we don&#8217;t do that anymore. We don&#8217;t play your little games.</blockquote>
You could see how deeply, deeply annoyed Hegseth was along with the entire administration, having to explain that when you drop 12 bunker-busters on an Iranian nuclear site and destroy their nuclear facilities — or at the very least render them completely inoperable — and then the media lie about it and seek any speck of information to discredit that — it is deeply annoying.
And it should be deeply annoying. The media refuse to give President Trump the win he deeply deserves.
Simply put, they are trash.

Hegseth Wrecks Trump-Hating Media

Ben Shapiro

Department of Defense

Iran

Iran Airstrike

Legacy Media

Middle East

Opinion

President Trump

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday announced the Pentagon would rename a Navy ship from a gay icon to a World War II hero who gave his life to keep his ship operational during a major battle.
“I’m pleased to officially announce that the Department of the Navy is renaming the replenishment oil formally known as the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson,” Hegseth said. “We are taking the politics out of ship-naming; we’re not renaming the ship to anything political; this is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration.”
“Instead, we’re renaming the ship after a United States Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as it should be,” he continued. “People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in, and so we’re renaming it after a chief, a navy chief, that during the battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, Chief Watertender Peterson led a repair party on the U.S.S. Neosho. The ship was severely damaged by Japanese dive-bombers and the entire repair party was either killed or severely wounded. Peterson himself was gravely wounded, yet he managed to single-handedly close the bulkhead stop valves, thereby helping to keep the ship operational.”
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Peterson suffered third-degree burns to his face, shoulders, arms, and hands after his actions on May 7, 1942; he died on May 13 at the age of 42 and was buried at sea. Peterson and his wife had two sons.
“In performing his historic actions and heroic actions, Peterson received additional injuries, and burns, which tragically resulted in his death, but his spirit of self-sacrifice and concern for his crewmates was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Navy. And for his heroic actions, Oscar Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. So I would like to officially welcome the USNS Oscar V. Peterson to the Navy’s Vessel Register,” Hegseth concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.
We are taking the politics out of ship naming. <a href="https://t.co/2ypwAQGdAl">pic.twitter.com/2ypwAQGdAl</a>
&mdash; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1938568563838886269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In July 2016, during the Obama administration, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced he would name John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oilers after prominent civil rights leaders, then named one after Harvey Milk, a gay San Francisco city supervisor who was assassinated along with San Francisco Democratic Mayor George Moscone in November 1978. “Milk’s naval service was utterly unremarkable,” National Review has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/harvey-milk-is-undeserving-of-a-ship/">noted</a>.

Pete Hegseth – Dan Caine holds a joint press conference in DC

Hegseth Sinks Woke Symbolism: Ship Named After Gay Icon Renamed To Honor War Hero

Harvey Milk

Heroism

U.S. Navy

President Donald Trump unloaded on the legacy media after a Thursday morning press conference — which was meant to correct the record on the U.S. military&#8217;s recent strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — held by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to praise Hegseth for delivering one of the &#8220;most professional&#8221; press conferences he&#8217;d ever seen and called for the media outlets that had pushed ahead with leaked intelligence to &#8220;fire everyone involved.&#8221;
Trump prefaced the press conference — which he&#8217;d teased just a day earlier — with <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114749580476669594">another post</a>, saying, &#8220;Rumor is that the Failing New York Times and Fake News CNN will be firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories on the Iran Nuclear sites because they got it so wrong. Let&#8217;s see what happens?&#8221;
Once the press conference ended, he took a sharper tone.
&#8220;One of the greatest, most professional, and most &#8216;confirming&#8217; News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!&#8221; the president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114749815668266552">posted</a>, piggy-backing on Hegseth&#8217;s comments.
Hegseth had said during his remarks that media outlets seemed so desperate to attack Trump that they didn&#8217;t care if the framing of their stories undermined the brave actions of the men and women of the United States military who had actually carried out the mission.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Thank you, Mr. President. <a href="https://t.co/oxHBnXLEB4">pic.twitter.com/oxHBnXLEB4</a>
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1938224791741219296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The president added <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114749839848044904">his own comments</a> clarifying some of what was seen at the Iranian nuclear site — cars and trucks that some in the media have alleged might have been moving nuclear materials out of the site prior to the attack.
&#8220;The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!&#8221; he declared.
Trump doubled down, attacking the media again a short time later, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114750055630968441">posting</a> in all capital letters, &#8220;FAKE NEWS REPORTERS FROM CNN &amp; THE NEW YORK TIMES SHOULD BE FIRED, IMMEDIATELY!!! BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!&#8221;

Trump

‘Fire Everyone Involved’: Trump Unloads On Media After Hegseth Presser On Iran Strikes

'Fire Everyone Involved': Trump Unloads On Media After Defense Department Presser On Iran Strikes

Executive

Israel

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine in a Thursday press conference with Defense Secratary Pete Hegseth provided a detailed description of the American strikes and released video showing how bunker-buster bombs crippled Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities.
Caine revealed that the United States military had developed the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, better known as bunker buster bombs, more than 15 years ago, specifically with Iran’s nuclear program in mind.
He showed several military graphics and videos showcasing exactly how the bombers were to inflict extensive damage at Iran&#8217;s Fordo nuclear site.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Gen. Dan &#8220;Razin&#8221; Caine demonstrates how GBU-57 MOPs work: &#8220;Unlike a normal surface bomb, you won&#8217;t see an impact crater because they&#8217;re designed to deeply bury and then function &#8230; All six weapons at each vent at Fordow went exactly where they were intended to go.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/iQs3oWcJ4X">pic.twitter.com/iQs3oWcJ4X</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1938215092128231753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“All six weapons at each vent at Fordo went exactly where they were intended to go. A bomb has three effects that causes damage: blast, fragmentation, and overpressure,” Caine said. “In this case, the primary kill mechanism in the mission space was a mix of overpressure and blast ripping through the open tunnels and destroying critical hardware.“
Thursday&#8217;s press conference comes after the Trump administration accused CNN, The New York Times, and other legacy media outlets of attempting to torpedo the success of the strikes, quoting a leaked preliminary assessment that said the attack only set Iran’s nuclear program back by months.
“The majority of the damage we assessed based on our extensive modeling was a blast layer combined with the impulse extending from the shock. Imagine what this looks like six times over,” Caine added.
The media asked Gen. Caine if he was pressured to provide a rosy assessment of the destruction at Fordo, to which he pushed back, “No, I have not, and no, I would not.”
The U.S. strike on Fordo primarily focused on two ventilation shafts as the “primary point of entry into the mission space,” Caine said.
“In the days preceding the attack against Fordo, the Iranians attempted to cover the shafts with concrete to try to prevent an attack,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I won’t share the specific dimensions of the concrete cap, but you should know that we know what the dimensions of those concrete caps were. The planners had to account for this. They accounted for everything.”
“The cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon, and the main shaft was uncovered. Weapons two, three, four, five were tasked to enter the main shaft, move down into the complex at greater than 1,000 feet per second, and explode in the mission space. Weapon number six was designed as a flex weapon to allow us to cover if one of the preceding jets or one of the preceding weapons did not work. There were six on each side.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/thejointstaff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thejointstaff</a> Chairman General Dan Caine describes the devastating weaponry dropped on Fordow in last Saturday&#8217;s strikes: <a href="https://t.co/Ol9SE9rmvN">pic.twitter.com/Ol9SE9rmvN</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1938214162812879293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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WATCH: Gen. ‘Razin’ Caine Unveils Footage Demonstrating Fordo Collapse After Devastating Iran Strike

Fordo

News

Nuclear

Trump Administration

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid into a reporter who asked why he hadn&#8217;t specifically congratulated the female pilots who had been a part of the United States&#8217; recent strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities after they stated: &#8220;The early messages that you sent out only congratulated &#8216;the boys.'&#8221;
Hegseth, in the hours after the mission had been completed, touted the success of &#8220;our boys on those bombers&#8221; – and The New York Times, among others, complained that not all of those involved had been male.
Times Pentagon reporter John Ismay, most notably, wrote, &#8220;In the briefing, Hegseth referred to B-2 pilots as ‘our boys on those bombers,’ yet both men and women have been trained to fly them.&#8221;
When that topic came up during Thursday morning&#8217;s briefing, Hegseth bowed his head slightly, laughing, before responding.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> gave the PERFECT response when asked
&#8220;Why not acknowledge female pilots that participated, early messages congratulated the boys?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/BAqwj6bfdV">pic.twitter.com/BAqwj6bfdV</a>
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1938223290931143052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Why not acknowledge the female pilots that also participated?&#8221; the reporter asked. &#8220;The early messages that you sent out only congratulated &#8216;the boys.'&#8221;
&#8220;So, when I say something like &#8216;our boys in bombers&#8217; — see, this is the kind of thing the press does,&#8221; Hegseth replied. &#8220;Of course, the Chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot. Fantastic. She&#8217;s fantastic. She&#8217;s a hero. I want more female bomber pilots.&#8221;
&#8220;I hope the men and women of our country sign up to do such brave and audacious things,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;But when you spin it as because I say &#8216;our boys in bombers&#8217; as a common phrase – I&#8217;ll keep saying things like that, whether they&#8217;re men or women. I&#8217;m very proud of that female pilot, just like I&#8217;m very proud of those male pilots.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t care if it&#8217;s a male or a female in the cockpit, and the American people don&#8217;t care,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;But it&#8217;s the obsession with race and gender in this department that&#8217;s changed priorities, and we don&#8217;t do that anymore. We don&#8217;t play your little games.&#8221;

‘We Don’t Play Your Little Games’: Hegseth Smokes Reporter Asking Why He Didn’t Mention Female Pilot

'We Don't Play Your Little Games': Hegseth Smokes Reporter Asking Why He Didn't Mention Female Pilot

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