All posts tagged: Pete Hegseth

Canada’s Carney slaps Trump admin for ‘doing memes … throwing shade’

Canada’s Carney slaps Trump admin for ‘doing memes … throwing shade’

Published by Sam Flores

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with the news media after he suspended trade negotiations with the United States, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada August 22, 2026. Chris Tanouye | Reuters Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration for “doing memes” and “throwing shade” against his nation amid a growing trade war. Carney’s comments came in response to a reporter’s question about Trump officials mocking Canada’s military in social media posts and comments, and President Donald Trump signing an executive order directing the renaming of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for federal government use. The prime minister said there is a “positive opportunity that has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty” and which respects Canada’s right to protect and promote Quebec’s culture and the French language. “When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions” about trade, Carney said in Ottawa. “But look, it’s …

Anthropic gets its first court win over the Pentagon’s supply-chain risk label

Anthropic gets its first court win over the Pentagon’s supply-chain risk label

Published by skeptic

A federal judge in California ruled on Thursday evening that the Trump administration’s designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk was illegal.  U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said in her ruling that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s labeling of Anthropic as a risk to national security signified “unlawful retaliation” in violation of the First Amendment, and said the decision was “arbitrary and capricious.” Lin also said Anthropic was denied due process, as required under the Fifth Amendment.  Earlier this year, Hegseth and President Donald Trump labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk and ordered all federal agencies, even those outside of defense, to stop working with the Claude maker. The dispute stemmed from Anthropic setting hard lines on certain safety guardrails that would allow the Pentagon to use its models for fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens. The Pentagon denied that it would use Anthropic models for anything but lawful purposes, and alleged that Anthropic could try to control the military’s use of the models it bought and paid for.  In her ruling, Lin said that …

Iran weighs attacks on military targets in Europe if war escalates: FT

Iran weighs attacks on military targets in Europe if war escalates: FT

Published by Sam Flores

Iran has considered attacking U.S. military targets in Europe if the war escalates, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing two regime insiders. U.S. assets in Bulgaria and Cyprus were weighed as potential targets, according to the FT’s report. CNBC has reached out to Iran’s Military of Foreign Affairs for comment and has not independently verified the story. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war have stalled, with little sign that talks will resume, leaving the belligerents to consider their next stages in the prolonged conflict. UAE severs trade with Iran The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday said it had paused all “trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions” with Iran until further notice. On Tuesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Defense said it detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward its territorial waters. Both were reported to have fallen into the water and caused no damage or casualties. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected the UAE’s claim that Tehran had targeted the country. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. is not …

South Korea must brace for ‘worst-case scenario,’ President Lee says

South Korea must brace for ‘worst-case scenario,’ President Lee says

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JUNE 06: South Korean new President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a ceremony marking Korean Memorial Day at the Seoul National cemetery on June 06, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea is marking the 70th anniversary of Memorial Day, in tribute of people who died during military service in the 1950-53 Korean War. (Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun – Pool/Getty Images) Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that maintaining peace was “most important” for the country, but it needs to prepare for the “worst case scenario.” His comments come after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint drills with Seoul so as to not “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea. In a Truth Social post Sunday stateside, Trump cited his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and described the country as “unthreatening and respectful.” Lee on Tuesday said that the annual exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, …

Top U.S. commander acknowledges mental health issues on USS Lincoln

Top U.S. commander acknowledges mental health issues on USS Lincoln

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Navy sailors heave on a line during a fueling-at-sea on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 10, 2026. U.S. Navy | Via Reuters U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper on Sunday acknowledged mental health challenges aboard the USS Lincoln after reports that a sailor jumped overboard amid the aircraft carrier’s long Middle East deployment. “Here’s an important fact: Of the U.S. Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health,” Cooper said in a statement posted to X following his visit to the ship on Saturday. “This doesn’t mean that all is perfect. Find any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans in America today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn’t for everyone.” Cooper’s visit and statement follow reports of widespread morale and mental health issues aboard the Lincoln, which has been deployed for more than eight …

U.S. to use new economic tactics on Iran; Navy to relieve carrier

U.S. to use new economic tactics on Iran; Navy to relieve carrier

Published by Sam Flores

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking with CNBC on Aug. 4th, 2026. CNBC The U.S. will be applying economic measures “that have never been seen on Iran,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “It will be a combination of economic isolation like ‌the world has ​never seen before, ​and ​the continued blockade in ‌the Strait of ​Hormuz that will ​keep anything from going in or out of ​the ‌Iranian ports,” Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax, without elaborating further. His statements come as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly said late Thursday stateside that the U.S. military can keep a naval blockade of Iran going “indefinitely.” The Navy will rotate ships in and out “as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters. Media reports have said that the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington was headed to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for over 250 days in the Middle East. Its deployment had been expected to end in May. The George Washington strike group departed Vietnam on Aug. 12, …

Cuba’s ex-president Raul Castro makes rare public appearance after US indictment

Cuba’s ex-president Raul Castro makes rare public appearance after US indictment

Published by Sam Flores

US-indicted Cuban leader Raul Castro received a standing ovation as he appeared in public for the first time in months on Thursday, attending an event in Havana to mark the centenary of his brother Fidel’s birth. The 95-year-old head of the Cuban armed forces and former president entered the Karl Marx Theatre for a celebration rally amid the island’s worst crisis in living memory. Read moreCuba plunges into darkness as state energy firm reports new nationwide blackout He appeared at the event dressed in his trademark olive-green military uniform, AFP reporters witnessed, amid tight security. Cellphones were banned from the ceremony, bags were closely screened and delegates put through a metal detector by a sizeable security force. Castro is the last surviving leader of Cuba’s 1959 revolution and is seen as still wielding power on the island, despite stepping down as president in 2018. In May, he was indicted by a court in the US state of Florida on four counts of murder. The charges related to the downing of US civilian planes by Cuban …

Trump sounds desperate in downcast Camp David cabinet meeting as midterm fears loom large over GOP

Trump sounds desperate in downcast Camp David cabinet meeting as midterm fears loom large over GOP

Published by Sam Flores

Throughout American history, the secluded, wood-paneled lodges of Camp David have served as the ultimate backdrop for executive gravitas—the quiet mountain sanctuary in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains where Jimmy Carter brokered Middle East peace and war councils plotted global strategy far removed from the petty noise of Washington. But on Friday, Donald Trump dragged his administration to the historic retreat for a very different kind of exercise: a televised, downcast plea for political survival disguised as a meeting of the executive branch. Framed by White House press aides as a historic milestone — the first-ever live, televised Cabinet meeting held at the Thurmont, Maryland retreat — the event quickly devolved into an unvarnished display of midterm desperation. Sitting at the center of a long conference table flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the 80-year-old president didn’t use the pristine setting to project serene leadership or articulate a coherent governance strategy. Instead, with just three months standing between his party and a potentially …

A VC Firm Full of Former Navy SEALs Is Pumping Cash Into the High-Tech Weapons Industry

A VC Firm Full of Former Navy SEALs Is Pumping Cash Into the High-Tech Weapons Industry

Published by Sam Flores

Harpoon Ventures isn’t for “nerds.” This is one of the many selling points investor Clint Brown gives for the San Diego–based defense-tech venture capital firm, which recently closed a $155 million fundraising round. Another selling point? Half of the fund’s 10 employees are former Navy SEALs, including founder and former Olympic swimmer Larsen Jensen. “There’s Andrew Couillard,” Brown says, listing another investor. “He was EOD.” When I ask what that means, Brown hesitates. “He knows how to defuse nukes,” he finally says, laughing. “My head is like, You’re not supposed to tell people that.” Then, as if to make the résumé even more improbable: “He’s fluent in Mandarin, and he’s just the whitest guy you’ve ever met.” Another partner, Jake Windle, served with the famed SEAL Task Unit Bruiser during the Iraq War’s Battle of Ramadi in 2006, alongside commander Jocko Willink and sniper Chris Kyle, whose memoir later became the film American Sniper. Today, Brown insists, their lives are considerably less cinematic, filled with surfing, working out, and time spent with their kids. “We …

The Story Behind Trump’s War.gov Ad

The Story Behind Trump’s War.gov Ad

Published by Sam Flores

Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez echoes Trump’s assertion that with its rebranded platform, the military is reaching “records for recruitment.” (Under Trump, the US Army has raised the maximum recruitment age from 35 to 42 and lifted barriers to enlistment for those with only a single conviction for marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession. But data suggests that a mix of factors, including some Biden-era programs, is responsible for any uptick.) “The Peace Through Strength ad showcases the incredible power of America’s Joint Force, reinforcing that our unmatched military capability is the ultimate guarantor of national security. Inspired by President Trump’s vision of ‘peace through strength,’ the American people are answering the call in droves, driving recruitment in the Military Services to historic new highs as they step up to join the fight,” Valdez tells VF. Where Is Trump’s War.gov Ad Playing? Trump and Hegseth’s big-man-on-campus approach to military recruitment has, according to social media posts and online forums like Reddit, infiltrated ad breaks across programming on CNN and Peacock, with the ad also showing …