✕ Close Mossad chief David Barnea thanked the CIA for helping ‘reduce the threat’ from Iran’s nuclear project

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Iran will not hesitate to bomb more US air bases in the Middle East, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Iran’s nuclear facilities have been decimated in a complex operation, while railing against the media for reporting on a leaked Defence Intelligence Agency assessment that found that Trump’s airstrikes had only set back the country’s nuclear program by a matter of a few months.

“Because of decisive military action, President Trump created the conditions to end the war,” Hegseth said.

While a fragile ceasefire is currently holding, the Iranian leader claimed the Islamic Republic had access to “key US centres” and would take action “when necessary”.

In his first public appearance since the US attacked Iran’s three nuclear facilities on Sunday morning, Khamenei also claimed Iran had won a victory over Israel and the US, delivering a “slap to the US’s face” by attacking its Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

“Such an action can be repeated in the future too. Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,” Khamenei said.

If there’s one thing about the Trump administration, they love a crash out. Trump regularly crashes out on Truth Social, Propaganda Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt regularly crashes out from behind the podium, and anti-immigration ghoul Stephen Miller regularly crashes out on TV. But on Thursday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered one of this administration’s top-five crash outs so far.

This week, someone leaked an initial classified assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency about the U.S. attack on three of Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend. The assessment said Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was moved ahead of the strike, and that the attack only set back their nuclear program by a couple of months. Obviously, this goes against Trump’s multiple Truth Social posts insisting the attacks “obliterated” and “demolished” the sites.

As expected, Trump said the leak was fake and that all the news agencies that reported on the leak were also fake. His administration quickly fell in line; in statements on Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard both agreed that yes, the leak was fake, and actually, the attacks destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities and set the country’s nuclear program back “years.”

This brings us to Thursday morning, when Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine held a joint press conference about the attack to address the media’s questions. But neither Hegseth nor Caine offered any new information about the mission. Instead, Caine kept awkwardly looking to Hegseth to answer for him, which Hegseth was more than happy to do at every opportunity. The defense secretary scolded the media for not writing stories about “how hard it is to refuel in mid-air,” kept repeating Gabbard and Ratcliffe’s statements, and wished that reporters could just be patriotic when the U.S. drops bombs on another country.

“Because you, and I mean specifically you, the press, and you, the press core, because you cheer against Trump so hard, it’s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” Hegseth said at one point, adding that the press is taking “half truths, spun information, leaked information” to then “spin it, spin it in every way we can, to try and cause doubt and manipulate the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.” At least he said “pilots” and not “our boys” this time.

instead of doing critical coverage, Hegseth urges reporters to “Wave an American flag. Be proud of what we accomplished.” pic.twitter.com/nI4mSOpKCk — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 26, 2025

Arlington, Virginia – Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth recently went off on the media for not sharing more news reports that makes him and President Donald Trump ‘s administration look good.

During a press conference on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lectured the press for not sharing more news stories celebrating America. © Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

On Thursday, Hegseth held a news conference in the Pentagon to discuss President Trump’s recent decision to bomb nuclear sites in Iran, but he instead spent most of his time attacking the media.

At one point, Hegseth went on a long tangent, telling the press it was “in your DNA and in your blood” to “cheer against Trump so hard.”

“You want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of the strikes,” Hegseth said, seemingly pointing to leaked intelligence reports that found the strikes were not as effective as the administration has insisted.

“Let’s take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it, spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful,” Hegseth continued.

He went on to accuse journalists of “undermining the success” of the “historic” mission instead of celebrating military personnel as they should.

“How about we celebrate that? How about talk about how special America is, that only we have these capabilities? I think it’s too much to ask, unfortunately, for the fake news, so we’re used to that,” he added.

President Donald Trump is leaning into his new title of ‘daddy’ with a bold new merch drop.

The president was referred to as ‘daddy’ at Wednesday’s NATO Summit in the Hague by Secretary General Mark Rutte.

But he appeared to be pleased by the new nickname when a reporter asked him how he felt about Rutte’s remarks.

‘No, he likes me, I think he likes me! If he doesn’t I’ll let you know and I’ll come back and I’ll hit him hard OK?’ Trump told the journalist.

Rutte, meanwhile, backtracked on the comments saying they were taken out of context.

The White House is leaning into the NATO chief’s gaffe, putting out a video marking Trump’s return to D.C. set to Usher’s hit ‘Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).’

Follow along with Daily Mail’s live blog:

At a Pentagon press conference on Thursday morning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth desperately tried to hide behind the competence and skill of the American military as he attempted to spin negative news about President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran.

The Trump administration has been under fire after a leaked early assessment of the attack from the Pentagon indicated that the setback to Iran’s nuclear program was not as severe as Trump’s repeated claim that the program was completely obliterated.

Hegseth fumed at the press for reporting useful information to the public.

“Because you cheer against Trump so hard, it’s in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” Hegseth said to the press

Hegseth complained that “half-truths” were being released and “spun” to damage Trump, and claimed that doing so insulted the military members who executed the missions in Iran.

At another point in the press conference, Hegseth even complained about Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin’s coverage of the attack, describing her as “about the worst” on the issue and “the one who misrepresents the most intentionally.” Hegseth, who formerly worked at Fox News, was once Griffin’s coworker.

The characterization is even stranger following reports that Fox News appears to have been a major motivator behind Trump’s decision to attack Iran.

Hegseth also echoed Trump’s recent complaints on the same topic. The president called the press “scum” for reporting on the shortcomings of the strikes in Iran.

Adding fuel to the fire, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei released a video on Thursday and claimed that the strikes had not been as effective as Trump said. There have not been independent assessments to validate either leader’s claims, and both regimes have significant credibility problems.

This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo following U.S. airstrikes targeting the facility, on June 22.

Trump and Hegseth have spent their careers as public figures repeating lie after lie. For instance, Trump clings to the falsehood that he won the 2020 election despite clear evidence that he lost both the popular vote and Electoral College to former President Joe Biden. Trump also infamously promoted the racist and false “birther” conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.

Hegseth’s invocation of military honor while spinning the bombing run is especially ironic since he himself compromised national security early in his tenure as defense secretary. Hegseth published the details of an upcoming military operation in a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a journalist, causing domestic and international embarrassment for the administration and the Pentagon.

When Hegseth isn’t bumbling through basic aspects of his job, he has pushed bigotry at the Department of Defense and reportedly spent government resources to make himself look better when appearing on Fox News.

The new spin attempt comes on the same day NBC News released a poll showing that a plurality of Americans (45%) oppose the U.S. military strikes on Iran, with only 38% supporting them and 18% not choosing either side. The poll echoes surveys taken in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, and polls taken before the attacks showed opposition to U.S. military intervention.

Americans largely don’t want this, and the early signs are that the strike didn’t deliver what Trump said it had. That is why Hegseth is spinning so hard and getting so upset in the process.