White House reacts to Pete Hegseth's remarks over US troop deaths - Newsweek

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he took the media to task earlier in the day over the deaths of six U.S. service members, accusing reporters of mischaracterizing his remarks and of seeking to portray President Donald Trump negatively.

On Wednesday morning, Hegseth said, in part, during a press conference, "This is what the fake news misses. 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 its front-page news. I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad but try for once to report the reality.”

When asked about the remarks by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who asserted that Hegseth was "complaining" about the media coverage of the Iran war troop deaths in Kuwait, Leavitt replied sharply, "That's not what the secretary said, Kaitlan, and that's not what the secretary meant, and you know it. You know you are being disingenuous."

Collins replied with Hegseth's direct quote, and Leavitt said, "The press does only want to make the president look bad. That's a fact. Especially you and especially CNN."

Why It Matters

Six U.S. service members were killed on Sunday after an Iranian drone struck a tactical operations center at Shuaiba Port

“Our nation stands with you, and we are eternally grateful for your courage, your resiliency, your devotion to this mission and to our nation,” Hegseth said on Wednesday.

The United States, alongside Israel, conducted strikes in Iran on Saturday, resulting in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said the strikes were intended to crush Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

What To Know

Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday, "Sure, Iran will still be able to shoot some missiles and still be able to launch one way attack drones at civilian targets, and their proxies will attempt to attack our embassies, bases and soft targets. They are terrorists, after all, and they need to target civilians because they can’t fight toe-to-toe."

The U.S. Army has released the names of four of the Reserve service members killed Sunday: Captain Cody A. Khork, Sergeant 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, Sergeant 1st Class Nicole M. Amor and Sergeant Declan J. Coady. The names of the two other deceased service members have not been released pending next of kin notification.

Leavitt said Trump will attend the dignified transfer of the service members.

In a speech announcing the attack on Saturday, Trump said, "Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime….its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”

“It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I'll say it again, they can never have a nuclear weapon. That is why, in Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime's nuclear program at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,” he said.

What People Are Saying

CNN's Kaitlan Collins, at a press briefing on Wednesday: "Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front page news about these six service members who were killed."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at a press briefing on Wednesday: "The Secretary of Defense cares deeply about our war fighters and our men and women in uniform. He travels all across this country to meet with them, to connect with them."

What Happens Next

Trump said this week that military action in Iran is likely to last four weeks to five weeks, but he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”

Update 3/4/26, 4:39 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

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