It was the morning after a day when the American military campaign against Iran had not gone particularly well.
rebuked our Israeli allies for bombing a major Iranian gas field. “NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL,” he posted, even as U.S. and Israeli sources disputed Trumps insistence that he had not approved the attack in advance.
Mideast oil shipments remained paralyzed as such U.S. allies as Britain and France refused Trumps appeal to neutralize Irans blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, saying they didnt want a military escalation.
As oil prices soared, with the country producing virtually no new jobs over the previous six months, the chairman said the economic outlook was “uncertain.”Â
That was the backdrop when War Secretary Pete Hegseth began an early-morning news conference yesterday by slammingâ¦the media.
“A dishonest and anti-Trump press will stop at nothing, we know at this point, to downplay progress, amplify every cost and call into question every step. Sadly, TDS is in their DNA. They want President Trump to fail.” He was referring to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Yet if you magically wiped out all the coverage of these latest events, they would be no less true, rocking the world economy and puncturing the financial markets.
It was a jarring note, as if the lack of upbeat headlines was at the root of the problem.
This is a familiar theme of Hegseths, who has said media organizations are turning such developments as the deaths of American service members into front-page news to make Trump look bad.Â
The former “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host sprayed other targets, including “ungrateful allies” , and Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Now lets assume, for the sake of argument, that the Pentagon chief has a point.Â
The coverage of this president, especially in the second term, has been overwhelmingly negative, whether justified or not, and that could certainly seep into the reporting and analysis on Iran.
But on what planet would journalists want America to lose the war against the worlds leading terror state, which is responsible for the deaths of so many thousands of innocent civilians?
In fact, even those in the media who question the presidents decision to attack Iran right now â with no clear-cut evidence that the religious dictators are on the verge of developing nuclear weapons â say the U.S. is easily winning the war.
The worlds most powerful military has decimated Irans defenses, no question about it. Tehrans ability to use drones to strike back (with Russian help) against Americans in the surrounding Arab countries is relatively feeble, but still capable of inflicting death and damage.
And right now, in choking off oil traffic in the strait. All this is news, no matter how its reported.
Barbara Starr, the former CNN Pentagon correspondent, said this about Hegseth on my “Media Buzzmeter” podcast:
“I think he would much rather have 100 percent news coverage that is glowing of President Trumps policies and efforts in this war. He doesnt want any criticism⦠The job of the news media in wartime is to cover all the news. And I dont think theres really anything more important than the troops, which he claims is number one on his list, and their welfare and their safety.”
The most significant comment by Hegseth, who confirmed a request to boost the defense budget by $200 billion, was that there would be “no nation-building quagmire” in Iran, “no democracy-building exercise.” That may turn out to be true, but it underscores the long shadow cast by the Bush administrations invasion of Iraq, in which a supposed cakewalk wound up costing more than 4,000 American lives.
In appealing to the “patriotic” press yesterday to “thank” Trump for attacking Iran, Hegseth was of course broadcasting to the boss. Online, the president has accused “Highly Unpatriotic News Organizations of pushing “LIES” about
