On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tore into reporters who “cheered against Trump” when he ordered the strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.
"You, the press, specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard," Hegseth 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,” he added.
"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."
Hegseth: "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, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes."pic.twitter.com/sQ8WMCz7c2
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 26, 2025
Hegseth’s remarks came after reports questioned the effectiveness of the strikes in Iran.
Earlier this week, Townhall covered how Trump lashed out at “sleazebag” journalists for the same reason.
“The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were ‘pretty well destroyed!'” Trump posted on Truth Social
“It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that’s why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!” he added.
Before this, Trump had posted a Truth stating that “monumental damage” was done to all three nuclear sites.
“Obliteration is an accurate term!” he wrote. “Bullseye!!!”
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