Trump Shares Hegseth’s Broadside Against Media Over Iran Military Claims
Trump reposts a DOW Rapid Response graphic quoting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth crediting U.S. forces with destroying Iran's military and attacking press coverage of the operations.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump shared a post on Truth Social amplifying remarks attributed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who claimed U.S. forces had destroyed Iran’s Navy, Air Force, air defense systems, leadership, and military industrial capacity, and accused American journalists of undermining the military.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “RAPID RESPONSE DOW Rapid Response .@SECWAR “Allow me to lay it out for the anti-American losers in our media: These Americans, right here—and their peers-have DESTROYED Iran’s Navy, DESTROYED Iran’s Air Force, their air defense systems, their leadership, their military industrial capacity. THEIR ENTIRE DEFENSE BASE. Iran’s conventional shield has been crippled, and their nuclear ambitions laid bare for the world. You are ensuring Iran never gets a nuclear weapon! Courageous and historic operations that every red-blooded American is proud of. But, as you know, the information space is a battle space. Yet our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable. Our media’s shameful lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless, so-called ‘reporting.” So-called journalists-juiced up on Trump Derangement Syndrome-think they’re fighting against our President, but they’re really undermining you-our warfighters. Bottom line: too many of them hate the President more than they love the country.’” on October 2, 2026 at 10:26 PM ET.
This is Trump’s 14th message released today, and the last post was 0 minutes ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 54 of his 541 posts over the last 30 days classified as Foreign Policy posts.
President Donald J. Trump shared a social media post on Truth Social on 10/02/2026.
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The remarks, as quoted in the DOW Rapid Response post, drew a direct line between press coverage and physical danger to military personnel, framing the information space as a battle space. Hegseth said journalists “think they’re fighting against our President, but they’re really undermining you — our warfighters.” The video transcript extended those claims, with Hegseth asserting that journalists reveal troop movements to the enemy, jeopardize operations by leaking classified capabilities, and “put directly at risk” the lives of service members “when they lie about munition stockpiles.”
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