Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department minions have begun firing back after a blistering criticism of his abilities. Senior officers accused Hegseth of a range of failings, including a fixation on grooming rules,

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are joining the U.S. military’s widening campaign in Latin America.

Last week, reporters for major broadcast and cable news networks, including Fox News, as well as the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post declined to sign on to the new Pentagon policy. They objected to provisions in the policy that read as if they were agreeing to only seek Pentagon-approved information.

The Pentagon is stacking its new press corps with a number of right-wing media outlets, MAGA influencers, and conspiracy theorists. It comes after the vast majority of the traditional media refused to agree to new rules rolled out under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and were forced to turn in their credentials last week.

The Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell has responded with a vulgar joke to a question from a HuffPost journalist about the colours of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's tie, which resembled the Russian flag.