Pete Hegseth: "President Trump sets the terms" on running Venezuela
"President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately, he'll decide what the iterations are of that," Hegseth told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.
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"President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately, he'll decide what the iterations are of that," Hegseth told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.
Adm. Alvin Holsey relinquished command Friday in a ceremony at U.S. Southern Command headquarters after announcing early retirement amid U.S. buildup off of Venezuela.
"We're reviewing the process, and we'll see," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. "Whatever we were to decide to release, we'd have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now."
The U.S. military's early September strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat has drawn new scrutiny as the White House confirmed that the vessel was struck twice.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the commander of a September operation "worked well within his authority and the law" when ordering a follow-on strike.
The United Nations human rights chief says the Trump administration "must halt" strikes on alleged drug boats to prevent "extrajudicial killing."
Colombian President Gustavo Petro gives his side of the story as he engages Trump in a war of words over mounting U.S. boat strikes.
The U.S. military struck another alleged drug-carrying vessel on Friday, killing three people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced, in the seventh known attack since last month.
The five major broadcast news networks, including CBS News, said they "join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements."
Hundreds of generals and admirals were summoned from around the world last week for today's unusual meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, without initially being told why.
President Trump said last week of the meeting, "I love it."
Hegseth and each service secretary said posts mocking or celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk are unacceptable.
President Trump singed an executive order Friday directing the Department of Defense to use the name Department of War as a "secondary title" — restoring a name it last held in the late 1940s.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said leaker of initial intel assessment wanted to "make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful."
Operation Midnight Hammer included seven B-2 Spirit bombers, 125 total aircraft and more than 75 precision-guided weapons, the Joint Chiefs chairman said.
Army guidelines instruct commanders and soldiers on interacting with and identifying service members with gender dysphoria as they leave the military.
Administration officials including Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem championed the law during President Trump's first term.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not given any press briefings in the briefing room but has used the room as a backdrop for TV hits with Fox News.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details about impending U.S. airstrikes in Yemen with a private Signal group that included his wife, brother and personal attorney, according to sources familiar with the messages.
The messages were sent the same day Hegseth shared similar details in a separate Signal chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief.
The Trump administration's IT team members investigated how Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeff Goldberg was added to a Signal group chat with high-ranking senior officials.
The Pentagon inspector general's office said it would evaluate Hegseth's use of Signal to discuss strikes against the Houthis.
In a session of British Parliament Wednesday, the controversy over the leaked Signal group chat involving high-ranking members of the Trump administration was debated.
The National Security Council said the message thread "appears to be authentic" and the administration is "reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed in January to review "in a gender-neutral way" readiness standards for troops.
