Pete Hegseth Complains Reporting On Dead Troops Is Trying To 'Make The President Look Bad'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday suggested the media’s reporting of American troops killed after the U.S. went to war with Iran is only to make President Donald Trump “look bad.”

In an astonishing attack on journalists during a news briefing at the Pentagon, the former Fox News host and Army veteran was touting the early achievements of Trump’s conflict in the Middle East when he complained about “tragic things” making “front page news.”

Politics: Marjorie Taylor Greene Has Chilling Wake-Up Call On Trump: 'I Don't Think He's Joking'

His comments came after six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait.

In pointed remarks aimed at the “fake news,” Hegseth told the press conference: “We’ve taken control of Iran’s airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news again.”

Hegseth went on to claim, “I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality.” *(Watch a clip of his remarks below.) *

Hegseth: "This is what the fake news misses. We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it -- the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try…

[pic.twitter.com/vpW6z85ZPz]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)

[March 4, 2026]

Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost.

The soldiers killed on Sunday by an Iranian drone strike were based at an operations center in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base.

Four of the six fatalities were members of an Iowa unit of the U.S. Army Reserve, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Politics: Army Veteran Hits 'Thin-Skinned' Pete Hegseth With A Blunt 'Wish'

The department identified them as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

Two soldiers have yet to be publicly identified.

“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” Trump said of U.S. troop deaths on Monday.

Hegseth’s comments were raised with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday at her first briefing with reporters since airstrikes on Iran triggered counterattacks.

Politics: Before Trump Bombed Iran, Pentagon Slashed Teams Meant To Limit Civilian Casualties

Pressed by Kaitlan Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, Leavitt initially dismissed the idea that Hegseth was complaining about the media.

More in Politics

“That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlan. And that’s not what the secretary meant and you know it. You know you’re being disingenuous,” she snapped.

When Collins read out the Hegseth quotation verbatim, Leavitt replied: “The press does only want to make the president look bad. That’s a fact.”

Throughout his briefing, Hegseth was at pains to stress how the U.S. is dominating the five-day-old war, which Trump entered without congressional approval.

Politics: Trump’s Choice To Attack Iran Creating Worldwide Chaos Just Days In

Even so, the defense secretary conceded that some Iranian attacks would still hit their targets.

“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense,” he said.

Dismissingreported concerns about the U.S.’s diminishing stockpile of munitions, he claimed that the U.S. can continue to fight the war “easily as long as we need to.”

“Iran cannot outlast us,” Hegseth insisted. “We’re going to ensure through violence of action, and our offensive capabilities and our defensive capabilities, that we set the tone and the tempo of this fight.”

Signaling a potentially longer conflict than has previously been hinted at by the Trump administration, he added: “You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three.”

“Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo,” he added.

Politics: ‘President Trump Was Right’: Bernie Sanders Slams MAGA Chief By Quoting The Man Himself

Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed Hegseth, noting that the U.S. “has sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.”

Their comments followreporting by Reuters stating defense contractors are expected to visit the White House on Friday as the Trump administration wants to ensure it has adequate weapons stocks, given that the Iran conflict has forced the U.S. to use many of its munitions.