Page 2 - Us Defence Secretary

Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth tout record $1 trillion US defense budget

We are very cost conscious but the military is something that we have to build and we have to be strong because you have a lot of bad forces out there now, Trump said

US defence secy orders fitness norms to be gender neutral for combat jobs

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to make fitness standards for all combat jobs gender neutral, formalizing a process that largely exists for many of those jobs already. In a new memo, Hegseth told leaders of the military services to distinguish which jobs are considered combat arms such as special operations or infantry, and require heightened entry level and sustained physical fitness" and which are not. The memo released Monday said all physical fitness requirements for those combat arms positions must be gender neutral, based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary. The new order expands on a memo Hegseth put out March 12 that said the undersecretary for personnel must gather information on military standards pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards. Both reflect Hegseth's public complaints about fitness standards well before

US defence secy calls Japan indispensable amid rising Chinese aggression

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Japan on Sunday an "indispensable partner" in deterring growing Chinese assertiveness in the region and announced upgrading the U.S. military command in Japan to a new "war-fighting headquarters." Hegseth, who is on his first Asia trip with Japan as his second stop, also stressed the need for both countries to do more to accelerate the strengthening of their military capability as the region faces China's assertive military actions and a possible Taiwan emergency. Japan is our indispensable partner in deterring Communist Chinese military aggression, Hegseth said at the beginning of his talks with Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo. "The US is moving fast, as you know, to reestablish deterrence in this region and around the world." His comments come as an assurance at a time when Japan has been worried about how US engagement in the region may change under President Donald Trump's America First policy, Japanese defense officials ..

Atlantic drops full Signal chat on Yemen attack; White House downplays leak

JD Vance pushes for delay in attack, Pete Hegseth takes final call: What The Atlantic revealed about the Yemen Houthi attack group chat

Pentagon's Hegseth texted timing of strike that killed Yemeni militant

The chat did not appear to include any names or precise locations of Houthi militants being targeted or to disclose information that could have been used to target

Scaled-back US visit to Greenland by JD Vance eases tensions with Denmark

The updated itinerary represents somewhat of a retreat of an initially planned three-day visit with participation of a full US delegation including NSA Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright

Elon Musk meets Pentagon officials, demands prosecution of leakers

Earlier on Friday, before arriving at the Pentagon, Musk lashed out at the New York Times, calling it pure propaganda. I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon

Secret Service shoots armed man near White House while Trump is out of town

An armed man believed to be travelling from Indiana was shot by US Secret Service agents near the White House after a confrontation early Sunday, according to authorities. No one else was injured in the shooting that happened around midnight about a block from the White House, according to a Secret Service statement. President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time of the shooting. The Secret Service received information from local police about an alleged suicidal individual who was travelling from Indiana and found the man's car and a person matching his description nearby. As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel, the Secret Service said in a statement. The man was hospitalised. The Secret Service said his condition was unknown. The Metropolitan Police Department will investigate because the shooting involved law enforcement officers. A message left Sunday for the police departm

US defence secy Hegseth rejects troops support, Nato membership for Ukraine

The comments amounted to a major reorientation of US policy as President Donald Trump looks for ways to bring the war in Ukraine to an end

US defence secy removes Trump critic General Mark Milley's security detail

Hours after Trump's swearing-in on January 20, the portrait of Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was removed

Trump 2.0 defense policy: Removing transgender troops, space-based defence

One of the controversial parts of Trump's executive order is aimed at revisiting the rules for transgender individuals in the US military. It has sparked widespread debate over inclusivity

Hegseth gets Senate nod, becomes defence secretary in a bow to Trump

Move by the Republican-controlled Senate was a testament to Trump's ability to maneuver his narrow control of Congress, as lawmakers voted 51-50 to back Hegseth

Hegseth's former sister-in-law alleges wife's abuse in affidavit to Senate

Senators vetting the nomination of Pete Hegseth for US defence secretary received an affidavit on Tuesday from a former sister-in-law alleging that the onetime Fox News host was abusive to his second wife, to the point where she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation. The sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, was formerly married to the nominee's brother, and in an affidavit obtained by The Associated Press, she said she believes that Pete Hegseth is "unfit" to run the defence department based on what she witnessed and heard. She said she first relayed her allegations to the FBI last December but was concerned that the information was not shared with Congress as senators consider Hegseth's nomination to lead the Pentagon. The affidavit describes Hegseth's treatment of his second wife, Samantha, and alleges repeat drunkenness and a domestic situation where Samantha had a safe word to indicate if she was in danger at home. Danielle Hegseth said Samantha texted that safe

US troops need to stay in Syria to counter Islamic State: Defence secy

The US needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State group from reconstituting as a major threat following the ouster of Bashar Assad's government, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press. American forces are still needed there, particularly to ensure the security of detention camps holding tens of thousands of former IS fighters and family members, Austin said Wednesday in one of his final interviews before he leaves office. According to estimates, there are as many as 8,000-10,000 IS fighters in the camps, and at least 2,000 of them are considered to be very dangerous. If Syria is left unprotected, I think ISIS fighters would enter back into the mainstream, Austin said at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he travelled to discuss military aid for Ukraine with about 50 partner nations. He was using another acronym for the Islamic State group. I think that we still have some work to do in terms of keeping a foot on the throat of ISIS," he ...

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin loses bid to reject 9/11 plea deals

A military appeals court has ruled against Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's effort to throw out the plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks, a US official said. The decision puts back on track the agreements that would have the three men plead guilty to one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States in exchange for being spared the possibility of the death penalty. The attacks by al-Qaida killed nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, and helped spur US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in what the George W. Bush administration called its war on terror. The military appeals court released its ruling Monday night, according to the US official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Military prosecutors and defence attorneys for Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks, and two co-defendants reached the plea agreements after two years of government-approved ...

Trump's defence pick Pete Hegseth faces scrutiny amid numerous allegations

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day Tuesday on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon. Hegseth told reporters he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical of his nomination. We're going to meet with every senator who wants to meet with us, across the board, Hegseth as he went from office to office Tuesday. And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process. Trump tapped the Fox News co-host, a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, as his Secretary of Defense, typically among the first Cabinet posts to be considered by the US Senate for confirmation. But Hegseth is running into questions amid a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied, and other emerging reports about his work conduct and history. GOP Sen Lindsey Gr

Why Trump's Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth seen as potential 'insider threat'

Fox News personality and Army National Guard veteran Pete Heseth has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump as Defence Secretary, his association with military extremism raises concerns

Trump's Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth was flagged as possible 'Insider Threat'

Pete Hegseth, the Army National Guard veteran and Fox News host nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, was flagged as a possible Insider Threat by a fellow service member due to a tattoo on his bicep that's associated with white supremacist groups. Hegseth, who has downplayed the role of military members and veterans in the January 6, 2021, attack and railed against the Pentagon's subsequent efforts to address extremism in the ranks, has said he was pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration. He's said he was unfairly identified as an extremist due to a cross tattoo on his chest. This week, however, a fellow Guard member who was the unit's security manager and on an anti-terrorism team at the time, shared with The Associated Press an email he sent to the unit's leadership flagging a different tattoo reading Deus Vult that's been used by white supremacists, concerned it was an indication of an Inside

US defence secy discusses regional de-escalation with Israeli counterpart

Their conversation highlighted the US' support for Israel's security, particularly in the face of threats from Iran and Iranian proxies

US defence secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death-penalty cases. The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced that the official appointed to oversee the war court, retired Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, had approved plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks. Letters sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks said the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences at most. Austin wrote in an order released Friday night that in light of the significance of the decision, he had decided that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements was his. He nullified Escallier's approval. Some families of the attack's victims condemned the deal for cutting