Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to be in the midst of two conflicts, one that began on Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched a joint military campaign in Iran, and the other with the American free press over its coverage of the widening Middle East war.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, accused journalists at a Pentagon news conference Friday morning of producing unflattering coverage of the Iran conflict, a signal that President Donald Trump’s administration is feeling pressure to control the optics of its widely unpopular war.
Now nearing the end of its second week, the Iran war has led to the deaths of at least 13 U.S. service members and has burned through more than $11.3 billion worth of taxpayer dollars. The Persian Gulf has been plunged into chaos as Iran mounts retaliatory strikes against U.S. military bases and oil refineries in the region, and Israel intensifies strikes in Lebanon.
What’s more, global energy prices have skyrocketed amid the near-total closure of one of the world’s most vital oil export routes, the Strait of Hormuz. And a preliminary investigation by the U.S. military found the U.S. was responsible for the deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school this month.
But for Hegseth, the nation’s top defense official who previously criticized the press for emphasizing U.S. casualties in the Iran war, that coverage is all “fake news.”
“Some in this crew, in the press, just can’t stop,” Hegseth told reporters Friday in the Pentagon press briefing room. “Allow me to make a few suggestions … I used to be in that business, and I know that everything is written intentionally, for example, a banner or a headline.”
The defense secretary went on to rail against the press for reporting on the economic fallout of the ongoing Middle East war, before suggesting headlines he believes are more flattering to the administration.
“More fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz,” Hegseth said. “Patently ridiculous, of course.” The Trump administration will likely approve the Paramount-Warner Bros. $110 billion merger, the product of a monthslong bidding war with Netflix, that would put Ellison and his father, the billionaire Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, in control of CNN. Trump has often joined Hegseth in accusing, without evidence, the network of reporting“fake news.” The Trump-allied Ellison family acquired Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, with the administration’s blessing earlier this year. The network previously agreed to shell out $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. Trump sought $20 billion in damages over claims that the Harris interview, which aired during the 2024 presidential race, was deceptively edited. And Hegseth’s comments on Friday added insult to injury in a Pentagon reporting environment that has been historically unfriendly to the free press. Dozens of Pentagon correspondents surrendered their press credentials last year after Hegseth invoked a policy that forbade them from reporting information unless it was approved by Pentagon officials and barred their unescorted access to large swaths of the building.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
The CNN report, which has since been confirmed by MS NOW, cited multiple officials with knowledge of the Pentagon and National Security Council’s planning of the military operation in Iran, which underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the strait as retaliation for the U.S. military action, according to the sources.
“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said, referring to the Paramount Skydance CEO, whose company is poised to acquire CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
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