Pete Hegseth

Reporting over 15,000 Iranian targets struck; operation entering critical phase

Operation Epic Fury, launched jointly by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, has escalated dramatically into its third week with expanded targeting, regional escalation to Gulf state civilian infrastructure, and the first significant fracture within the Trump administration's national security apparatus. By March 17, the campaign had struck more than 15,000 Iranian targets using precision munitions, destroyed over 20 Iranian naval vessels including the country's top submarine, and killed 49 senior Iranian regime leaders including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. On March 13, US forces executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island—Iran's critical oil export hub—destroying 90+ military targets including naval mine storage facilities and missile bunkers while deliberately preserving oil infrastructure as a strategic warning. Iran has retaliated with ballistic missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf region, killing at least 13 American service members and escalating attacks on non-US targets in neighboring Gulf states, including fatal strikes on Abu Dhabi and drone attacks near Dubai's airport and Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. On March 17, Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, became the first senior Trump administration official to resign over the war, stating Iran "posed no imminent threat" and that the US entered the conflict "due to pressure from Israel." The operation represents the largest sustained US aerial campaign in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion, but now faces mounting questions about its legal basis, military end state, and whether an air war can achieve the administration's promise of "freedom for Iran."

Updated 3 hours ago

Leading US military response under Operation Epic Fury

A missile struck the helipad inside the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad on March 14, destroying part of the air defense system designed to shoot down exactly this kind of incoming fire. The Counter-Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar system, its radar station, and a satellite communications array were all knocked out, leaving the largest US embassy in the world significantly more vulnerable to the hundreds of attacks that Iran-aligned militias have launched since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28.

Updated 3 days ago

Overseeing US military operations in the Iran war

For the third time in ten days, a ballistic missile fired from Iran crossed into Turkish airspace before NATO defenses destroyed it. The March 13 interception over eastern Turkey followed similar shootdowns on March 4 and March 9 — a pattern that has turned a NATO ally's skies into an unwanted proving ground for the alliance's missile shield. Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador and demanded an explanation; Iran, as it has after each incident, denied deliberately targeting its neighbor.

Updated 4 days ago

Directed unprecedented supply chain risk designation against U.S. AI firm

Anthropic's Claude became the first commercial AI model deployed on classified U.S. military networks in late 2024. Over sixteen months later, the Department of Defense formally designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk"—a label historically reserved for foreign adversaries—after the company refused to permit Claude's use for mass surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons. The unprecedented action followed failed negotiations and President Trump's directive to cease federal use of Anthropic tech, forcing contractors to cut ties.

Updated 7 days ago

Overseeing military operations and coalition structure

The United States has not built a new military coalition in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. On March 7, President Trump gathered leaders from 12 Latin American nations at his Doral resort in Miami to launch the 'Shield of the Americas,' a framework for coordinated military and intelligence operations against drug cartels, and announced the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition, a pledge from 17 countries to use lethal military force against transnational criminal organizations.

Updated Mar 7

Leading military operations as Operation Epic Fury enters second week

The War Powers Resolution has been on the books for 53 years, designed to prevent a president waging a major war without Congress voting to authorize it. On March 5, with American troops engaged in combat against Iran and at least six service members dead, the Senate voted 47-53 to reject a resolution requiring presidential approval from Congress before continuing military operations, followed hours later by the House rejecting its parallel measure H. Con. Res. 38.

Updated Mar 6

Overseeing military operations; dismissed Article 5 speculation

For six days, the United States and Israel have been bombing Iran under operations codenamed Epic Fury and Roaring Lion. Iran has struck back not just at Israel but at American bases scattered across the Persian Gulf — and in doing so, put French troops, British runways, and Turkish airspace in the crossfire. Now France has become the first major NATO ally to open its own military infrastructure to the American war effort, authorizing United States support aircraft to use the Istres air base in southern France, with the explicit condition that these planes stay out of offensive strikes on Iran.

Updated Mar 5

Leading Pentagon briefings on Operation Epic Fury

For four decades, the United States and Iran avoided direct, large-scale war. That changed on February 28, 2026, when the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, military infrastructure, and leadership compounds, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The assault followed collapsed indirect nuclear talks mediated by Oman. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on US bases in the Gulf, oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Embassy in Riyadh.

Updated Mar 4

Overseeing Pentagon AI procurement and Anthropic phaseout

For decades, the United States military chose its weapons contractors and the contractors complied. Artificial intelligence changed that equation. On March 3, OpenAI and the Department of Defense amended a freshly signed AI contract to explicitly ban the use of the technology for domestic surveillance of American citizens—a concession the Pentagon had refused to grant Anthropic just days earlier, triggering that company's blacklisting from all federal agencies.

Updated Mar 3

Overseeing Operation Epic Fury

The last time the United States sank Iranian warships was April 18, 1988. Thirty-eight years later, American forces destroyed nine Iranian naval vessels in a single day and demolished the country's naval headquarters at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman. The strikes came after Iran attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the 21-mile-wide passage through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows, broadcasting radio warnings that no commercial ship would be allowed to pass.

Updated Mar 1

Named to lead the file identification effort

For nearly eight decades, the United States government has investigated reports of unidentified objects in its airspace while keeping most of its findings classified. On February 19, 2026, President Donald Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other federal agency heads to begin identifying and releasing government files related to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and extraterrestrial life — the broadest presidential directive on UFO transparency ever issued.

Updated Feb 20

Directed Department of War to prepare action in Nigeria

On Christmas night 2025, American warplanes struck ISIS-linked camps in northwest Nigeria, killing multiple militants in the first direct U.S. combat action inside the country—now over seven weeks ago. The operation, approved by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu after months of Trump administration threats, targeted Lakurawa/ISSP elements in Sokoto State but alarmed Jabo village residents who reported civilian panic from a missile hitting farmland. By mid-February 2026, escalation deepened as U.S. Africa Command deployed around 200 military personnel, with the initial 100 troops arriving on February 17 at Bauchi Airfield to train and support Nigerian counterterrorism efforts. Nigeria's Defence Headquarters confirmed the deployment was 'planned and deliberate' following a formal Federal Government request for military training, technical support, and intelligence sharing.

Updated Feb 18

Recipient of four-state governors' demand for classified briefing

On December 22, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum paused every major offshore wind farm under construction off the East Coast. Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind—representing $28 billion in investment and enough power for millions of homes—all stopped work on orders from Washington citing radar interference and national security risks near military installations.

Updated Feb 10

Named defendant through the Defense Department in the D.C. lawsuit

The troops were supposed to start leaving Washington. Instead, the D.C. Circuit hit pause and let President Trump’s National Guard deployment keep rolling while judges decide who really holds the keys to security in the nation’s capital.

Updated Feb 10

Overseeing U.S. military contingency planning for possible action in Nigeria

Since March 2025, jihadist attacks, mass kidnappings, and farmer-herder violence across northern and central Nigeria have persisted, with over 160 killed in a February 4, 2026, jihadist massacre in Kwara State alone. Key incidents include a US-Nigeria joint airstrike on December 25, 2025, targeting Islamic State militants, multiple Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks killing dozens of soldiers in January 2026, and partial rescues of hostages amid unabated banditry.

Updated Feb 6

Leading Operation Hawkeye Strike

On December 13, 2025, a Syrian security officer allegedly affiliated with ISIS opened fire on US troops near Palmyra, killing two Iowa National Guard members—Staff Sgts. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard—and a civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat. Six days later, the US unleashed Operation Hawkeye Strike, with 100 precision munitions hitting 70 ISIS targets across central Syria using fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery; Jordan sent F-16s. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it "a declaration of vengeance."

Updated Feb 5

Overseeing acquisition system transformation

For three decades, the Pentagon told defense contractors to consolidate. Now it's paying $1 billion to help one spin off—and the strategy is cascading across the entire defense industrial base. The Defense Department announced in January 2026 it will take an equity stake in L3Harris's solid rocket motor business, which will become a separate publicly traded company in the second half of 2026. It's the first time the Pentagon has directly invested in a defense supplier rather than simply buying its products. By early February, the model had already proven its power: Congress passed an $838.7 billion FY2026 defense budget with $2.9 billion earmarked specifically for munitions and industrial capacity expansion, and Raytheon announced five landmark framework agreements to triple Tomahawk production and double AMRAAM output over seven years.

Updated Feb 5

Leading Pentagon drone transformation

The Pentagon spent $398 million on small drones in 2022. Four years later, as Ukraine demonstrated that $400 drones could destroy $10 million tanks, Congress authorized $1.7 billion—a fourfold increase. Now the Department of Defense has launched its most ambitious small-drone initiative ever: a $1.1 billion program to field more than 300,000 one-way attack drones by 2028, with the first 30,000 expected by mid-2026.

Updated Feb 4

Overseeing force expansion and technology initiatives; facing legal challenges over treatment of retired officers

On January 1, 2026, every U.S. service member got a 3.8% pay raise—bringing an E-1's monthly check to $2,407. It's the third consecutive above-inflation increase Congress has delivered, part of a scramble to fix a system where junior troops qualified for food stamps and all branches except the Marines missed recruitment targets in 2023. The Army hit just 77% of its goal that year. Then Congress opened the spigot: 4.6% in 2023, 5.2% in 2024, and a historic 14.5% for junior enlisted in 2025. The strategy worked: fiscal 2025 delivered the strongest recruiting performance in 15 years, with all branches averaging 103% of goals and fiscal 2026 starting equally strong.

Updated Jan 30

Implementing Trump's defense buildup and contractor restrictions

Trump wants to spend $1.5 trillion on defense in 2027—a jaw-dropping 66% jump from this year's $901 billion. One day he banned defense contractors from stock buybacks until they deliver weapons on time. The next day he promised them a gold rush. Defense stocks whipsawed, then surged: Northrop up 8.3%, Lockheed 7.9%.

Updated Jan 13

Refuses to release boat‑strike video publicly despite bipartisan pressure; faces potential travel‑budget restrictions under new NDAA.

President Trump signed a nearly $901 billion defense bill into law on December 18, 2025, cementing the 65th consecutive year Congress has passed a National Defense Authorization Act. The measure delivers troops a 3.8% pay raise, locks in $800 million in weapons support for Ukraine over two years, sets troop floors in Europe and South Korea that defy Trump's withdrawal instincts, and rewires how the Pentagon buys weapons through sweeping acquisition reforms branded as the SPEED Act. It also repeals the 2002 Iraq War authorization while embedding Trump-era cuts to climate and diversity programs across the military.

Updated Jan 9

Confirmed 51-50 on January 24, 2025 (VP Vance broke tie)

Trump's second-term cabinet confirmations became the most contentious in modern history. The Senate confirmed all 22 nominees requiring confirmation, but only after unprecedented battles: Vice President Vance broke a 50-50 tie to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz withdrew as attorney general pick after sex trafficking allegations surfaced, and most nominees faced near party-line votes after zero received voice votes or unanimous consent.

Updated Jan 7

Chief executor and defender of militarized hemispheric and anti‑cartel operations

On December 5, 2025, the Trump administration released a 33‑page National Security Strategy (NSS) that formally revives a 19th‑century idea of the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence, declaring a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and promising to reassert American preeminence across the Americas. The document codifies a shift already visible in 2025 military operations: air and missile strikes on alleged drug‑trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that had killed at least 115 people in 35 strikes by year‑end, the designation of major cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and naval deployments around Venezuela. This campaign, formally named Operation Southern Spear on November 13, 2025, culminated on January 3, 2026, when U.S. forces launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a large‑scale military strike on Caracas that captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, placing them in U.S. custody on narco‑terrorism charges—the first forcible regime change under the Trump Corollary.

Updated Jan 4

Ordered Operation Hawkeye Strike in retaliation for Palmyra attack

A lone ISIS gunman killed two Iowa National Guardsmen and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13, 2025—the first American combat deaths since dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country a year earlier. Six days later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched Operation Hawkeye Strike: F-15s, A-10s, Apache helicopters, and HIMARS artillery hammering 70 ISIS targets across central Syria with over 100 precision munitions. Jordan sent fighter jets. Trump called it vengeance. Then U.S. forces kept hunting—11 more raids between December 20-29 killed or captured 25 ISIS operatives and destroyed four weapons caches.

Updated Dec 31, 2025

Under congressional investigation for alleged 'kill all' order on September 2 strike

The CIA just struck Venezuelan soil. On December 30, President Trump confirmed the first known U.S. land attack inside Venezuela—a drone strike on a coastal dock allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua gang to load drug boats. No one was there when the missiles hit. Meanwhile, in the Pacific that same day, a U.S. strike on another boat killed two more people, bringing total deaths to at least 107 since September.

Updated Dec 30, 2025

Authorized federalization of Illinois and Texas National Guard units

The Supreme Court told President Trump he can't send National Guard troops to Illinois. The 6-3 decision on December 23 marks the first time the modern court has blocked a president from federalizing state Guard units over a governor's objections. Trump claimed protests at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago constituted a rebellion. The court wasn't buying it. In a significant concurrence, Justice Kavanaugh warned the ruling could force Trump to use regular military forces instead of the Guard, potentially escalating future deployments.

Updated Dec 26, 2025

Co-announced Golden Fleet initiative

Trump just announced the United States will build battleships again. The USS Defiant (BBG-1)—lead ship of the Trump-class—will be the largest American surface combatant since World War II at 35,000 tons, armed with nuclear cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, rail guns, and lasers. Construction starts in 2030. The Navy wants 20 to 25 ships at over $10 billion each. One day after the announcement, the Pentagon released its annual China report revealing Beijing plans to build six more aircraft carriers for a total of nine by 2035—the largest carrier expansion in the Indo-Pacific since World War II.

Updated Dec 25, 2025

Public face of the retaliation message; frames strikes as vengeance, not escalation.

In the first post-strike readout of “Operation Hawkeye Strike,” Jordan confirmed its air force flew alongside U.S. forces in the retaliatory package that hit 70+ ISIS targets across central Syria. While CENTCOM has not released a formal casualty count, multiple reports citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and AFP put ISIS losses at at least five, including a cell leader tied to drone activity in the east.

Updated Dec 21, 2025

Linked to command-and-control tightening as SOUTHCOM leadership turned over amid reported dissatisfaction with responsiveness during the Venezuela-linked escalation.

Trump’s Venezuela “blockade” threat is no longer just rhetoric—it’s being scaffolded by fresh Treasury actions and a widening target universe. Since the blockade announcement, Washington has added new Venezuela-linked sanctions and separately hit Iran’s shadow-fleet network, expanding the pool of already-sanctioned vessels that could be swept into real-world stop-and-search enforcement if they touch Venezuela’s trade.

Updated Dec 20, 2025

Facing heightened congressional oversight tied to NDAA conditions; said the Pentagon would not publicly release a top-secret unedited strike video while continuing briefings to lawmakers.

In December 2025, Congress completed work on the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), authorizing a record $901 billion in national security spending. The House passed the final compromise 312–112 on December 10, and President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on December 18 in a low-profile move without an Oval Office ceremony. The enacted package cements a 4% pay raise for service members, provides $800 million for Ukraine over two years through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), advances Trump priorities such as eliminating Pentagon DEI programs and supporting the “Golden Dome” missile-defense effort, and retains policy riders that helped drive intra-party and bipartisan friction.

Updated Dec 20, 2025

Briefed all members of Congress and reaffirmed the Pentagon will not publicly release the full, unedited Sept. 2 strike video; now facing NDAA-driven compliance pressure to provide footage and authorizing orders to armed-services committees

What began as a made-for-video “counterdrug” campaign is now colliding with full-spectrum oversight politics. After SOUTHCOM’s Dec. 16 strike-footage release, the U.S. military publicly acknowledged additional lethal actions that pushed reported deaths past 100 across roughly 28 known strikes since Sept. 2—while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed every member of Congress and signaled the Pentagon will not publicly release the full, unedited video record of the controversial Sept. 2 double-strike episode.

Updated Dec 20, 2025

Implementing and defending military-led border enforcement

Donald Trump has quietly turned long stretches of the southern border into de facto military bases. Under a new system of National Defense Areas, soldiers can stop migrants, hold them, and help prosecutors charge them as trespassers on military land.

Updated Dec 11, 2025