Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense.
Profile text here is limited to what the cited stories establish; this is not a biography.
Stories 7
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Defense and Security
Operation Epic Fury: a war of choice launched days before a deal, still unfinished eight months and $43.6 billion later
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, two days after Oman said a deal was near; eight months on Hormuz is contested, 21 US troops are dead, the bill is $43.6 billion, Iran's uranium is unaccounted for and no deal exists.
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Government and Oversight
A war Congress never authorized: three House votes, one Senate vote reversed overnight after Trump called a senator a 'lunatic'
Congress holds the war power. The Iran war began with no vote, a notice that ignored the War Powers Resolution and no briefing for six weeks; the House voted three times to end it and the Senate once, until Republicans flipped.
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Defense and Security
Seizing a head of state without telling Congress: Operation Absolute Resolve, 75 dead, and a $4.7 billion bill
On January 3, 2026, 200 US special operators and 150 aircraft seized Nicolás Maduro in Caracas; about 75 people died, Congress was told afterward, a secret memo said no law bound the president, and Trump said the US would 'run' Venezuela.
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Defense and Security
More than 200 killed at sea without a trial: the boat strikes, the 'armed conflict' memo and the second strike on survivors
Since September 2025 the US military has destroyed more than 60 small boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing over 210 people labeled 'unlawful combatants' without public evidence; survivors of the first strike were killed by a second.
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Government and Oversight
Troops on American streets: the Guard deployments the courts found illegal, from Los Angeles to Chicago
Trump federalized thousands of Guard troops and sent Marines into Los Angeles, then Portland, Chicago, Memphis and Washington; a judge found Posse Comitatus violations, the Supreme Court said he likely lacked authority, and he retreated.
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Foreign Policy
'We don't have to be there for NATO': the Munich speech, the 'PATHETIC' chat, and 5,000 troops pulled from Germany
Vance told Europe its main threat was itself, Hegseth called allies 'PATHETIC' free-loaders, Trump said the US 'doesn't have to be there for NATO,' and the Pentagon ordered 5,000 troops out of Germany over a dispute about the Iran war.
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Defense and Security
Everyone said this would happen: 50 years of warnings that Iran would close Hormuz and that bombs alone could not end its program
The Shah said Iran could close Hormuz in 1972; Iran threatened it in 1983, 1984, 2011, 2018 and 2025; a 2012 bipartisan study said strikes buy four years at most and invite retaliation at the strait. By September 2026 the US was losing.