Pete Hegseth is facing the most serious crisis of his tenure as defense secretary, engulfed by allegations of war crimes in the Caribbean and a blistering inspector general report accusing him of mishandling classified military intelligence.
But Hegseth shows no signs of stepping down and still holds Donald Trump’s support.
The twin crises have engulfed the former Fox News personality in separate but overlapping allegations that lawmakers, policy experts and former officials say reveal a pattern of dangerous recklessness at the helm of the Pentagon.
Democratic legislators have reignited calls for his ouster after revelations that survivors clinging to wreckage from a September boat strike were deliberately killed in a “double-tap” attack, while a defense department investigation released on Thursday concluded he violated Pentagon policies by sharing sensitive details via the Signal messaging app hours before airstrikes in Yemen.
Former Fox News personality dismisses criticism of Carribean strikes
Hegseth defended the Carribean strikes during remarks Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, saying Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit”. The strikes have killed more than 80 people and now face intense scrutiny over concerns that they violated international law.
“If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you. Let there be no doubt about it,” Hegseth said during his keynote address. “President Trump can and will take decisive military action as he sees fit to defend our nation’s interests. Let no country on earth doubt that for a moment.”
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Trump ramps up anti-immigrant language
Donald Trump and senior members of his administration have dramatically escalated their hostile language towards immigrants in the US after an Afghan man was named a suspect in last week’s shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC.
In recent days, the US president has made sweeping statements, claiming that there were “a lot of problems with Afghans”, and went on a tirade against Somali immigrants, calling them “garbage” whose country of origin “stinks”. Critics have described the recent derogatory remarks as “alarming”, “awful”, “dehumanizing” and “vile”.
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Takeover of Pentagon press corps by ‘mouthpieces’ for Trump’
Experts are alarmed that Pentagon press passes once held by serious journalists are now in the hands of rightwing pundits and Trump allies, after almost all credentialed reporters from traditional media companies surrendered their Pentagon press passes in October.
“They can’t seek out information on their own. Doesn’t sound like journalism to me. Here’s what it actually is: a group of alt-right outlets who are vying to be mouthpieces and apologists for this administration,” said Carole-Anne Morris, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
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National guard member wounded in DC attack is ‘slowly healing’
West Virginia’s governor says the state national guard soldier who was wounded in the 26 November shooting that killed a colleague of his in Washington DC is “slowly healing”.
West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey said in a post on his website that Andrew Wolfe, 24, had been recovering, if slowly, from being shot in the head. He was shot alongside Sarah Beckstrom, 20, while they patrolled the US capital as part of the Trump administration’s push to deploy military members on to city streets.
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‘I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews’ – Trump hosts Kennedy Center honorees
Country music singer George Strait, actor-singer Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester “Sly” Stallone and the members of the rock band Kiss all accepted medals on Saturday evening from Donald Trump, who hosted the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees in the Oval Office for a medal-presentation ceremony.
Since taking office, the president has ousted the center’s board of trustees and replacing them with supporters. The president said in August that he would host the related TV show on Sunday and boasted: “I believe – and I’m going to make a prediction: this will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done.”
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Senator says ICE ‘attack dog’ caused ‘horrific’ injuries to unresisting man
A US senator has condemned the Trump administration after she alleged that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “attack dog” mauled one of her constituents. Democratic senator Patty Murray of Washington state said Wilmer Toledo-Martinez suffered “horrific” injuries while ICE agents detained him in November and was not resisting arrest or attempting to flee when the dog attacked.
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What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 5 December 2025.
