US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a blistering attack on the media, accusing journalists of rooting against President Donald Trump and deliberately undermining the success of America's recent military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"It's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad," Pete Hegseth said during a tense Pentagon briefing alongside General Dan Caine. "You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective."
The remarks came in response to media reports earlier this week citing a leaked Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment. The preliminary report suggested that the strikes, while damaging, may have only set back Iran's nuclear programme by several months, a finding that stands in contrast to Trump's claim that the sites had been "obliterated."
The administration did not dispute the existence of the DIA report but said that it was based on early data and described it as a "low confidence" assessment. Still, the leak led Hegseth to question the media's motives.
"Maybe the way the Trump administration has represented them isn't true. So let's take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it," he said. "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."
Throughout the briefing, Pete Hegseth appeared visibly frustrated, repeatedly characterising the press as fixated on discrediting Trump-era military efforts. He criticised what he called "biased leaks to biased publications," suggesting that some reporters were more interested in scandal than substance.
The defence secretary also accused the press of failing to recognise what he described as "historic moments," such as improved military recruiting numbers and increased NATO defence spending. "You're hunting for scandals all the time," he said.
The Trump administration launched a forceful PR push to counter a leaked DIA report questioning the impact of US strikes on Iran. Thursday's Pentagon briefing was part of that effort, with President Trump urging viewers to "Watch it!" and claiming, without evidence, that reporters behind the leak would be fired.
Pete Hegseth called it unverified and premature.
"If you want to know what's going on at Fordow, you better go there and get a big shovel," Hegseth said, referring to one of the targeted Iranian nuclear sites.
Asked whether Iran might have moved enriched uranium prior to the strikes, the defence secretary responded, "I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise."
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