All posts tagged "pentagon"

Trump’s billionaire Pentagon deputy defiant after he's confronted with corruption claims

The Pentagon's billionaire second-in-command has sent a fortune in taxpayer money to a company that's tied to his old business.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg's department has paid $300 million to Alvarez & Marsal, a corporate turnaround consultancy and longtime partner of Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm Feinberg co-founded and ran, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The payments, which come on top of work already done by government employees, were described in documents reviewed by The Journal and by people familiar with the matter. They are part of Feinberg's sweeping push to overhaul how the military builds and buys weapons.

The connections run deeper than the contract. One of Feinberg's senior deputies, Pete Guinto, recently left the Pentagon to join the consultancy. Another, George Kollitides, was previously a partner at Alvarez & Marsal Capital, a separately managed investment firm linked to the consulting business.

Some officials have privately asked why taxpayers, rather than military contractors, are footing the bill. Others told The Journal the work partly duplicates what the department already does, noting it has its own team devoted to boosting arms production and an office with thousands of employees stationed inside contractor factories.

Feinberg defended the arrangement.

"There's a big shortage in the department of capable operators," he told The Journal. "Our acquisition teams and our department people are terrific, but they're not operational manufacturing people."

A spokeswoman for the consultancy said it is "proud to serve clients across all industries, and all levels of government." A spokeswoman for the investment arm said its staff has no hand in running the consulting side, and vice versa.

The Pentagon has also brought on McDermott Will & Schulte, the law firm that represents Cerberus, to help negotiate deals. A spokeswoman for the firm said its Pentagon work is reviewed by federal ethics officials and that it would step aside from any transaction involving a Cerberus affiliate.

Feinberg moved his Cerberus holdings into an irrevocable trust for his adult children when he took the job, but critics have flagged potential conflicts given the firm's defense-linked portfolio. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote to him in July citing "ongoing concerns." A Cerberus spokesman said Feinberg "is not involved in the operations of Cerberus or its portfolio companies in any way."

Feinberg's standing has also come under question, with several outlets reporting that White House officials interviewed potential replacements, which the White House has denied.

"I have total support from the White House and the department," Feinberg said. "And I'm all-in to the end of the term."

Dismay as Pentagon confirms ‘insane’ new twist on mass shooter’s execution: 'Disgusting'

The Pentagon revealed exactly how the public will be able to witness an upcoming military execution, and critics were horrified.

The Defense Department said in a statement on Thursday that the December 3 firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, will be livestreamed, The Washington Post reported.

The announcement came hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview with Jack Posobiec on Real America's Voice that he wanted people to be able to watch Hasan's death.

"People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth said, calling the firing squad idea a "no-brainer."

If carried out, Hasan's execution would be the military's first since 1961 and its first by firing squad since 1945, according to Death Penalty Information Center figures cited by the Post.

Hasan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to death in 2013. President Donald Trump signed off on the firing squad earlier this week.

The plan drew swift outrage online.

"Disgusting," wrote former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance in a post on X.

"Oh my god," reacted disinformation researcher Caroline Orr Bueno, adding, "This is insane."

Podcaster Krystal Ball, the co-host of "Breaking Points," called the plan a "government backed snuff film. Dark."

Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot and former Senate candidate in Kentucky, wrote, "Televising an execution seems pretty sick to me. We are America. We don't need to do this."

"Jesus Christ, I didn't think we'd actually get to the 'public executions' stage of Trump's project to roll back the last 100 years of societal development," lamented immigration policy analyst Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.

"Even as someone who nominally supports capital punishment, this is disgusting and abhorrent," admitted weapons and defense analyst John Ridge. "Not even China televises executions. This will place the United States in the company of North Korea, Iran, and ISIS."

'Humiliated' Trump could order Pentagon to strike Iran ahead of midterms: report

President Donald Trump, reportedly humiliated by a war he can't end, has his Pentagon drawing up strike options to use before the midterms.

The White House has directed military planners to prepare attacks on Iranian targets that could be carried out ahead of the November 3 elections, two administration officials told The Atlantic in a report published Wednesday. U.S. Central Command is putting the plans together, though officials said no final decision has been made on how large the strikes would be, what they would hit or whether they'll happen at all.

Trump has been openly angry over how long the conflict has dragged on, now nearing eight months, and people close to him believe he feels "privately humiliated" that he hasn't been able to wrap it up, according to The Atlantic.

Supporters of the plan concede a limited round of strikes wouldn't force Tehran into talks, reopen the Strait of Hormuz or bring down gas prices before voters head to the polls. However, they believe that the plan has a political upside.

A Republican familiar with the discussions said, "It would make the president look like he got a win and that gas prices would start going down."

Critics see it differently. Will Walldorf, a Wake Forest University international affairs professor and senior fellow at Defense Priorities, told The Atlantic that "military action has done nothing to drive down oil prices; in fact, it has done the opposite."

"And if this is an attempt to rally the Republican vote, how does that make any sense given how unpopular this war is?" he added.

Trump's own advisers reportedly believe any renewed strikes should wait until after the election. The president himself has floated that timeline, telling Time magazine that "we've been stocking up for the last six months." Last week, he predicted a U.S. victory soon after the vote before adding, "Maybe before the election."

A White House official told The Atlantic that Trump "has all options available at any time," adding that "things will go one of two ways; the easy way or the hard way."

Iran may already be bracing, per The Atlantic. One adviser told the outlet, "Iran is watching the calendar and knows the election is coming."

'Decay and oligarchy': Retired Air Force officer blasts Pentagon's billionaire takeover

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has quietly tapped two billionaire defense contractors to help shape the future of American warfare, prompting warnings from current and former Pentagon officials that the arrangement hands private industry players enormous influence over the very department that funds their companies.

According to Politico, the initiative, called Project Meridian, recruits SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, alongside former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to spend the next four months charting what the Pentagon calls the future "trajectory of warfare." Officials have revealed almost nothing about how the commission will actually operate, relying on a brief four-paragraph memo and broad language insisting the U.S. must "dominate" next-generation military technology.

Both Musk and Luckey run companies holding billions of dollars in active Pentagon contracts, and nine current and former officials told reporters the arrangement raises obvious conflict-of-interest concerns, warning it could let the two executives steer even more business toward their own firms. It remains unclear whether the commission will grant them anything close to the sweeping authority Musk wielded last year while leading Trump's Department of Government Oversight.

Wes Bryant, a retired Air Force master sergeant who previously ran the Pentagon's civilian harm assessments, said the arrangement reflects a troubling pattern he's watched unfold inside the department.

"This is entirely indicative of the decay and oligarchy that has taken over our government and, in many cases, directly through purchasing influence and power and authority, blatantly right in front of us," Bryant said. "They're not even trying to hide it anymore."

Musk, who is also currently ramping up his political spending for Republicans around the country, infamously played a huge role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force last year, which ordered mass firings across the federal government. The initiative failed to make any notable taxpayer savings or make the government run any more efficiently.

Top Trump general refuses to rule out escalation as US sinks deeper in war next door: WSJ

The top U.S. general in Latin America and the Caribbean says land strikes against drug cartels are on the table.

Gen. Francis Donovan, the Marine four-star who leads U.S. Southern Command, made the remarks in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that was featured in a Tuesday article. His comments come as the Pentagon broadens its campaign against trafficking networks across Central America, South America and the Caribbean. That campaign began with strikes on suspected smuggling boats one year ago.

"Do I see land strikes as options? Yes," Donovan said. "We want all options at the table."

He described a wide range of possible actions.

"Those actions might be strikes, arrests, or the takedown of a safe house," Donovan explained. "It could even be something as routine as increasing the use of cargo scanners at border checkpoints."

His stated aim is to create "total systemic friction" for the cartels.

U.S. forces are already moving past the boat strikes. Last week, roughly 50 American troops and law enforcement personnel accompanied Ecuadorean police on early morning raids targeting an alleged cocaine ring tied to a Mexican cartel. Ecuadorean officials said it was the first time U.S. troops had taken a direct part in police raids there. This year the U.S. military has also helped Ecuador bomb a suspected trafficking camp. It also worked with Venezuela on a strike that killed the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Moving from sea to land could invite more legal scrutiny, The Journal noted. The Trump administration has argued the U.S. is in an armed conflict with cartels. Legal experts and lawmakers dispute that, and they note that Congress has not authorized such a war, according to The Journal.

The State Department told Congress earlier this month that it plans to redirect $52 million in foreign military financing to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama, according to The Journal. The money would let those Latin American countries purchase more American weapons and military services.

‘Potential goldmine’: Pentagon breach alarms experts as troops' personal data exposed

A breach of the Pentagon’s personnel database exposed Social Security numbers and other sensitive information about current and former military personnel, raising fears about how the data could be used.

Unauthorized users gained access to a Defense Manpower Data Center server last October, but the Pentagon did not discover or fix the problem until July, according to a notification letter reviewed by CNN.

The Pentagon said in its letter dated this month that it “does not have any indications of misuse” of the information exposed from the breach.

“But the breached data is a potential goldmine for foreign intelligence services looking to track US military personnel, or cybercriminals looking to extort them (were they to acquire the data),” CNN reported, citing experts.

Justin Sherman, CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, warned that someone could pair the data with commercial records to “learn about or even target [defense personnel] based on their earnings, debts, marriages, spending habits, browsing activities, and worse.”

According to CNN, the records were not encrypted, and the number of people affected remains unclear. But Military Times has reported that as many as four million Defense Department personnel could be affected.

It is also unclear who the culprit behind the breach is, CNN reported.

Sherman emphasized the danger of exposed data involving potentially millions of service members, especially “as the US wages war on Iran and is in competition with multiple other governments.”

“If a foreign adversary was to get this kind of data trove, it could enable phishing, profiling, foreign intel approaches, and much more,” he said.

China is embarrassing Trump's Pentagon with 'devastating' move amid summit: analyst

The Trump administration is facing a "devastating" threat from China after a package containing F-35 fighter jet parts was diverted to Hong Kong.

On Thursday, former Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh explained during an appearance on CNN that the Trump administration should be concerned about China's ability to reproduce and reverse-engineer the F-35 after the faux pas.

"This is incredibly damaging and embarrassing for the United States," Singh said. "This is our most sophisticated aircraft platform that our military uses, and the proprietary information and some of the parts that were rerouted can be devastating, not only to reverse-engineer, but these are the fighters that can evade detection."

She said, "An investigation would certainly need to play out" to understand just how devastating the mistake can be and what kind of threat is in place. However, she stressed that the F-35 is "very sophisticated," especially when it comes to avoiding detection.

"You'll remember when [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin came to Alaska, the red slating that you saw on the fighter jets, that was to protect components of the F-35 from photographs," Singh explained. "So the fact that this has now fallen into the wrong hands, I would hope that the president is pushing President Xi on how to get these back."

Singh was referring to the fact that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is in Washington, D.C., and visiting President Donald Trump in the White House. She said it was an opportunity to bring the matter up, "but it's almost a little too late at this point because I would assume Chinese intelligence has at least taken photographs of this."

CNN anchor Jake Tapper was flabbergasted to learn that the F-35 parts arrived in Hong Kong via UPS, the popular package courier, despite their importance to national security.

"UPS?" Tapper asked. "It's not a Christmas sweater."

‘Truly alarming’: Backlash erupts after false report ‘almost started a war’

A bombshell report that faulty artificial intelligence nearly pushed the U.S. military into a confrontation with China sparked alarm and outrage across social media Friday.

A chatbot falsely concluded that a Chinese ship in the Middle East was carrying components for a nuclear weapons program, according to an exclusive CNN report. Military planes were already airborne and armed personnel were preparing to board the vessel when officials discovered the error.

“This is a truly alarming story,” CNN anchor Jim Sciutto posted on X.

Task & Purpose reporter Patty Nieberg warned that the danger came from people accepting AI-generated claims without checking them.

“AI won’t directly kill us yet,” she wrote on social media. “It’ll be because people are too lazy to check and an AI algorithm made something up.”

Travis Akers, a retired Navy intelligence officer, was more blunt.

“The Pentagon is an absolute wreck,” Akers wrote. “Pure incompetence at every turn.”

CNN senior political reporter Aaron Blake contrasted the revelation with a Department of War post declaring that the United States “will continue to be AI dominant.”

CNN anchor Jake Tapper also appeared to connect the exclusive to Trump’s announcement that CNN reporters would be barred from the White House.

“I’m not sure which of these news stories so distressed the president,” Tapper wrote while sharing Trump’s ban and the network’s report.

"Not the best natsec day for Trump admin," added Wall Street Journal national security reporter Alex Ward.

This is a truly alarming story.

“The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.” Via…
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) September 18, 2026

'Unbelievable': Pentagon's massive troop withdrawal plan sparks immediate backlash

The Pentagon's thoughts about withdrawing 25,000 troops from Europe are spurring fears of the threat the move would create for U.S. allies.

On Thursday, NBC News reported that the Pentagon is considering pulling out 25,000 or more U.S. troops from Europe, which is nearly a third of the American forces stationed there. The withdrawal would include aircraft, ships, and weapons, even though NATO allies have warned about the growing threat from Russia.

Online critics pointed to the move as proof that President Donald Trump and his administration are aligned with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"For the umpteenth time: Trump works for Putin," wrote former GOP congressman Joe Walsh in a post on X. "He's a Russian asset. Plain & simple. Putin is smiling again today."

"What US national security interest would this decision advance?" wondered former U.S. ambassador to Russia and political science professor Michael McFaul. "I missed the Party of Reagan and Peace Through Strength."

"Trump is helping Putin to attack Europe," declared investigative journalist Robert van der Noordaa.

"As European countries build their defense capabilities, this kind of withdrawal may become possible," former U.S. ambassador Steven Pifer lamented. "It makes no sense now."

"UNBELIEVABLE!" exclaimed influencer Brian Krassenstein, who had a theory for why the Trump administration was making the move. "This is happening right after the EU signed a trade deal with Canada and invited Canada to join the EU as an associated member. Trump is mad that two allies are working together after he pissed them both off."

This would not be the administration's first drawdown in Europe. The Pentagon ordered about 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany earlier in 2026 amid tensions with Berlin, Fox News reported.

It also echoes Trump's first term, when he ordered roughly 12,000 troops out of Germany in 2020. That plan drew bipartisan pushback and was frozen by President Joe Biden, CBS News reported.

What US national security interest would this decision advance?

I missed the Party of Reagan and Peace Through Strength. https://t.co/Un0R9eB6GY
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) September 17, 2026

Pentagon rages as Pete Hegseth's pressure campaign on rescued airmen exposed: report

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ignored concerns about leaking classified information by pressuring airmen to do a '60 Minutes' interview, CNN reported.

According to a Saturday article, Hegseth and political appointees in his department pressured two crew members of an F-15 to take part in a '60 Minutes' story that will air on Sunday. Ultimately, one airman agreed to the interview while the other declined, according to CNN.

The two were shot down over Iran and then rescued in April. Multiple anonymous sources told CNN that Hegseth went as far as meeting with them personally about going on '60 Minutes.' Hegseth ignored concerns from military officials that the interview risked exposing classified details of the rescue effort, three anonymous sources told CNN.

The network that runs '60 Minutes' has also recently undergone a notable overhaul and lost many veteran correspondents and producers since conservative Bari Weiss took over as CBS News Editor-in-Chief with the backing of Trump ally and Paramount CEO David Ellison.

Two anonymous sources told CNN that political appointees in Hegseth's office were adamant about both F-15 crew members sitting for the interview, which will be part of the Sunday premiere kicking off the new season of '60 Minutes.'

After both airmen raised their concerns, Hegseth personally met with them in private and asked whether they wanted to cooperate, sources told CNN. Hegseth's office has been trying to craft the narrative around the Iran war as it has become increasingly unpopular, CNN noted.

CNN couldn't identify the two airmen in the interview, as the Pentagon hasn't publicly released their names. The Pentagon also denied the reporting when CNN reached them for comment.

"This entire story is a complete lie," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN. "The decision to participate in the interview was each pilot's alone."

CNN also noted that the major news outlets, including CNN, were eager to interview the pilots earlier this year, but Weiss personally lobbied Hegseth to give the interview to CBS, three sources at CBS told CNN.