Pete Hegseth live: Trump team slams press over strikes coverage

Times

4 hours ago

Asked whether he believes highly enriched uranium was moved out of the nuclear sites before Saturday's strikes, Hegseth said there was 'nothing to suggest' anything was moved out by the Iranians ahead of time.
Dan Caine says that the 30,000lb bunker-busters behaved as the military expected, but that it will not provide a damage assessment due to it being a job for the intelligence community.
'We don't mark our own homework,' he said.
Dan Caine, the air force general, says that two intelligence officials were investigating the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow for 15 years. They knew it 'wasn't being built for any peaceful purposes … they realised we didn't have a weapon [to take out the plant],' he said.
'Operation Midnight Hammer was the culmination of their work.
'The weapons were designed, planned and delivered to achieve the effects in the mission space.'
President Trump has said on Truth Social that there is rumour that the New York Times and CNN will fire reporters 'who made up the fake stories on the Iran nuclear sites'.
Dan Caine, the air force general and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is now talking about the Iranian attacks on the US base in Qatar on Monday.
Caine described the deployment of Patriot missiles to defend the base as 'the largest single Patriot engagement in US military history'. He would not say how many rounds were fired, saying it is classified.
Hegseth says the press relied too much on a US preliminary intelligence report, which suggested little damage had been done to the sites.
'Specifically you the press corps to cheer against Trump so much, you have to hope the strikes weren't effective … [you think] 'let's take leaked information and spin it to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind'.'
Pete Hegseth has started by attacking the press over its coverage of the damage inflicted on Iran's nuclear sites facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
'Searching for scandals you miss historic moments,' he said.
Iran had retaliated on Monday with a missile attack on a US base in nearby Qatar, but caused no casualties.
In an apparent reference to the attack, Ayatollah Khamenei said 'such an action can be repeated in the future, too,' adding that Iran had 'access to key US centres in the region and can take action whenever it deems necessary'.
'Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,' he said.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, will hold a news conference shortly to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
President Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed the 'war' secretary, would hold a news conference to 'fight for the dignity of our great American pilots'.
Ayatollah Khamenei, 86, hasn't been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists.
After an American attack on June 22, that hit the nuclear sites with bunker-buster bombs, President Trump helped negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday.
In his appearance on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei sat in front of plain brown curtains to give his address, similar to his June 19 message.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has said his country delivered a 'hand slap to the face of America' in his first televised address since the fragile ceasefire was declared in the war with Israel.
Claiming victory over Israel, Ayatollah Khamenei said the US had only intervened because 'it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.'
He warned the US 'will definitely pay a heavy price' should it attack Iran again. His comments came in the wake of an attack on Sunday in which American forces hit three Iranian nuclear facilities with bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles.