Thursday morning’s presser on the U.S. strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility turned heated when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unloaded on the press for reporting that the strikes weren’t as effective as the Trump Administration claims.
Hegseth unloaded on journalists in the room for nearly three minutes and accused them of trying to undermine the president’s efforts to keep America — and the world — safe.
“You, the press, specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard,” he said. “It’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’t effective.”
Hegseth accused the press of misrepresenting the facts.
“Maybe the way the Trump administration is represented isn’t true. So let’s take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it,” Hegseth said of the media. “Spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind, the public mind, over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.”
“What’s really happening is you’re undermining the success of incredible B-2 pilots and incredible F-35 pilots and incredible refueling and incredible air defenders who accomplished their mission, set back a nuclear program in ways that other presidents would have dreamed,” he said. “How about we celebrate that?”
Watch the clip below:
🚨 BREAKING: SecDef Pete Hegseth stares right at the press and goes scorched earth, spelling out their insanity. I could watch this all day.
"You, and I mean specifically YOU, the press, you cheer against Trump so hard, it's in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump,… pic.twitter.com/nmazQcUP8a
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 26, 2025
In another tense exchange, Hegseth pushed back on criticisms of the language he used to congratulate the pilots who flew the missions; he used the term “boys.”
Hegseth’s comments below:
“So when I say something like our boys in bombers – see, this is the kind of thing the press does, right? Of course, the chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot. That’s fantastic. She’s fantastic. She’s a hero.”
“When you spin it as because I say ‘our boys in bombers’ as a common phrase – I’ll keep saying things like that. Whether they’re men or women, very proud of that female pilot, just like I’m very proud of those male pilots.”
“And I don’t care if it’s a male or a female in that cockpit, and the American people don’t care. But it’s the obsession with race and gender in this department that’s changed priorities.”
“We don’t do that anymore. We don’t play your little games.”
🚨 LMAO! Pete Hegseth almost falls over LAUGHING at a reporter who took issue with him saying "our boys" in reference to the B-2 pilots (instead of being 'inclusive')
"Why didn't you acknowledge the female pilots that also participated in this mission. The early messages that… pic.twitter.com/SWrTQ9aNG2
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 26, 2025
