All posts tagged "pentagon"

'Just the beginning': Pentagon warns of possible boots on the ground — outside Iran

A top defense official told Congress on Tuesday that the United States had not ruled out ground troops in its ongoing conflict against Latin American drug cartels, and so far, military operations in Central and South America were "just the beginning," according to a Politico report.

Joseph Humire, acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said that lethal boat strikes against alleged drug boats were expected to continue indefinitely. Humire was speaking to a House Armed Services Committee, where Democratic lawmakers had questioned whether the United States had entered another "forever war" without a clear exit strategy or deadline.

"It’s the latest example of the administration doubling down on aggressive foreign policy interventions without clarifying what victory might look like, despite President Donald Trump’s past campaign pledges to avoid embroiling America in more overseas conflicts," Politico reported. "And it raises the prospect that the nation’s armed forces could be further strained amid a massive air war over Iran."

Humire said that "Operation Southern Spear" was saving lives, despite concerns from Democrats.

“We could shoot suspected criminals dead on the street here in America, and it may be a deterrent to crime, but that doesn’t make it legal,” Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-CA) said.

Humire repeated praise for President Donald Trump and claimed the administration's security mandates have been successful. So far, 157 people have been killed in 45 strikes on boats along the coast of South America.

“Interdiction is necessary, but insufficient,” Humire said. “Deterrence has a signaling effect on narco-terrorists, and raises the risks with their movements.”

Pentagon bans photographers for ‘unflattering’ photos of Pete Hegseth: report

The Pentagon apparently shut out photographers from attending press briefings on the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war in Iran after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's staff decided recent photos of him were "unflattering," The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The images from the March 2 briefing came after Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during a joint military strike on Feb. 28. It was the first time Hegseth had appeared in the briefing room and spoken to press since June 26.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images were among the media groups that sent photographers to the briefing with Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"But after they published photos — which have broad reach because they are licensed by publications globally — members of Hegseth’s staff told colleagues that they did not like the way that the secretary looked," two people who were familiar with the decision told The Post. They asked to speak under the condition of anonymity, citing concerns over potential retaliation.

Hegseth's aides then barred photographers from joining two other briefings at the Pentagon on March 4 and March 10.

“In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a written statement. "Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has had a contentious relationship with the media, often dismissing critical reporting as "fake news" and maintaining President Donald Trump's adversarial stance toward mainstream press outlets. The Pentagon under Hegseth's leadership has faced criticism from press organizations and watchdog groups for restricting media access, limiting transparency on military operations and favoring sympathetic news coverage over balanced reporting.

Trump just sent his MAGA promises to hell with a rash betrayal

Donald Trump is epically and furiously destroying … all of his 2024 campaign promises, causing MAGA to fume and the rest of the world to sweat.

The official name for his war with Iran, Operation Epic Fury, most aptly describes what is unquestionably Trump’s biggest, more ferocious, blood-boiling hypocrisy of all.

There is one through-line, from gas pumps to grocery aisles to the Epstein files to Epic Fury. The louder and more frequently Trump makes the promise, the more spectacular the inevitable betrayal.

This weekend, he jumped a shark.

Americans feel the disconnect in their proverbial pocketbooks. Trump promised lower prices and relief from inflation. Instead, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target. Tariffs, Trump’s favored word until “war” came along, add pressure to consumer costs.

Grocery bills haven’t retreated. Essentials are still pricey. And now, with a widening war in the Middle East, energy markets are rattled. Iranian retaliation targeting infrastructure, including Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery, threatens to send gas prices climbing.

“Drill, baby, drill” doesn’t mean much when global supply lines are on fire and geopolitical instability is priced in at the pump.

The same with health care. Trump promised better and cheaper. Expired Affordable Care Act subsidies and rising Medicare and Medicaid costs belie it. There is no relief in sight. No legislation, no executive orders, nothing to address a quickening national crisis.

Then there are the Epstein files. Trump pledged full disclosure. Appropriately, that was a sick joke. What has occurred has been steeped in non-disclosure. Trump’s Attorney General and the abhorrent FBI director openly shield their boss.

And all of this — the high prices, the health care strain, the botched Epstein releases — are now outshone by his biggest hypocrisy, his biggest lie of all. Trumpism was never about “America First” or “start no wars.” It was about Trump as dictator and imperialist.

He pressed “go” on Operation Epic Fury and unleashed death, destruction and chaos throughout the Middle East. This war, its reasons still unclear, will not end in a week, or two, or five. That’s not what happens when there are no clearly defined objectives.

It’s not what happens when you have a liar and a hypocrite leading the charge. Trump has suggested the operation will last a couple of weeks. History will remember that whopper.

The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead. So are many other Iranian leaders. That’s a good thing but the Trump administration insists it isn’t “regime change.” Strange, because it sure looks like a governmental decapitation.

Adding to the symbolism of lies and double-crossing — and the alarm — is Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense who after Trump represents the ultimate “F.U.” to MAGA.

Trump promised no wars. Instead, he and Hegseth started a “War Department,” with Hegseth as “Secretary of War” and soldiers recast as “warriors,” committed to a “warrior ethos.”

The candidate who campaigned as the antidote to endless Middle East conflict now presides, with the woefully inexperienced Hegseth, over a conflict that risks expanding beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations.

Two lying, untrustworthy warmongers, who think peace is for sissies.

We are told this won’t be Iraq. It will be. We are told it will be limited. It won’t be. Contained. Not anymore. Strategic. Never was.

Americans have heard this before. Under George W. Bush, in 2003, Iraq was supposed to be quick and surgical. Not a quagmire. Not prolonged. Not generational. Oh, and Trump says Iranians should take to the streets and take back their government. In Iraq, Dick Cheney said U.S. forces would be welcomed as liberators. No similarity there.

Hegseth’s “this isn’t Iraq” is an icing of lies on top of a cake of prevarication.

If the promise of “no wars” morphed into Operation Epic Fury, why should the promise of “not a long war” mean only a couple of weeks? When trust is repeatedly broken, it doesn’t magically regenerate into truth, especially when dishonestly flows from Trump and Hegseth.

Hegseth is the embodiment of this transformation. On Monday, standing at the podium of what used to be the decorous Defense Department, he declared: “If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down … and we will kill you.”

“Kill.” It was repugnant.

It was a word delivered not with staid solemnity but with insidious irreverence. Clearly, Hegseth thinks “kill” makes him sound like a UFC champion. It may play well with the bullies and bros.

But Hegseth’s hyper-hypocrisy continues. The same leadership that demands ironclad discipline from its “warriors” has skirted established security protocols, relying on insecure communications channels while lecturing the country about national security threats.

The pattern of pietism is entrenched and unmistakable. Lower prices became lingering inflation. Healthcare reform meant higher premiums. Transparency transformed into protection of the Epstein Class.

And “no wars” mutated into a renamed “War Department” and chaotic Middle East conflict.

Politicians break promises. All. The. Time. But Trump’s lies are worse, with profound implications for Americans and for the world.

You cannot campaign as the peace candidate — and yearn for a Nobel — then govern as a war president. You cannot decry “forever wars” while launching one.

MAGA voters must reconcile themselves to airstrikes, oil volatility, rising gas prices, and the possibility of a drawn-out conflict. They were told “America first.” Instead, they see America entangled abroad while costs rise at home.

Under Trump, America is never first. Trump is first, always. When peace made Trump look weak and like a loser — no Nobel — he became conqueror-in-chief. That’s a lie too.

John Casey was most recently Senior Editor, The Advocate, and is a freelance opinion and feature story writer. Previously, he was a Capitol Hill press secretary, and spent 25 years in media and public relations in NYC. He is the co-author of LOVE: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality (Rizzoli, 2025), named by Oprah in her "Best 25 of 2025.”

This Trump goon's bizarre threat sounds like it came from a drunk guy on a barstool

On Friday, Trump barred an American AI developer, Anthropic, from doing further business with the federal government, and barred all contractors from doing business with Anthropic — an extreme punishment typically reserved for adversarial countries.

Anthropic’s crime? Refusal to let the Department of Defense use its AI system, Claude, for surveilling American citizens or in autonomous weaponry that removes humans from decisions to kill.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — the man who group texted attack plans to a reporter, wanted to punish an astronaut for stating the law, then shot party balloons with potent lasers despite FAA warnings that the lasers could blind pilots while they were in the sky with passengers — demanded that Anthropic let him use its AI system without contractual restrictions. When Anthropic said no, Trump blacklisted them.

It’s hard to say what’s more appalling — that the Trump administration is building tools for mass public surveillance like China’s, or that an undisciplined dry drunk like Hegseth has access to lethal toys.

Keeping up with China … in the worst way

Trump has said he wants to keep up with China through “global technological dominance” and the “widespread use of AI.” China’s authoritarian government uses one of the most advanced public surveillance systems in the world, collecting extensive facial recognition, biometric data, and personal profiles from private citizens against their wishes.

China captures these data from citizens’ faces, conversations, social media posts, phones and other devices while people stand at crosswalks, ride the bus, and go to the store, then feeds the data into an AI database used for oppression: for law enforcement, “monitoring social behavior,” and controlling access to services.

China’s system is similar to what Trump oligarch-supporting Peter Thiel’s Palantir is building, namely, a high-level data integration platform that will enable U.S. law enforcement, ICE, the IRS, DHS, DOJ, the military, and any other rogue agency Trump wants to weaponize to collect facial recognition, license plate readers, and other biometric data for mass surveillance.

Poor Pete, nobody believes him

There were clauses in Anthropic’s contract with the DOD that prevented Claude from being used for either mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weaponry. While Anthropic had integrated Claude into some classified military networks, that $200 million contract expressly prohibited using it for mass surveillance of Americans as well as autonomous weaponry, “killer robots” that can identify, select, and kill targets without a human in the decision-making loop.

These were the contractual restrictions Hegseth’s DOD demanded be removed. But Anthropic wasn’t having it.

Just before Trump blacklisted them, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei said the company could not, “in good conscience” agree to the Pentagon’s request. Amodei has expressed concern that Claude could be used for mass surveillance by automatically assembling “scattered, individually innocuous data into a comprehensive picture of any person's life,” which seems to be exactly what Trump is trying to do.

In a series of angry social media posts, Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael accused Anthropic of “lying” about using Claude for mass surveillance because the Dept. of Defense “doesn’t do mass surveillance as that is already illegal.”

Apparently the DOD does do comedy, because the suggestion that this regime will follow the law is a joke.

Forget about the hundreds of court orders Trump has already violated. How many people have been murdered off the coast of Venezuela with zero legal justification? Claiming without evidence that we’re in an "armed conflict" with "narco-terrorists" is not a legal justification; it’s a dictator’s “shoot now, ask questions never” strategy for breaking the law.

What can the AI do?

Most Americans are blissfully unaware of how the emerging AI landscape could change their lives, and not for the better. Since I’m no AI expert, I asked Google AI to explain in simple terms how Anthropic’s Claude, if left to Hegseth’s command, could be used to spy on Americans. Here’s how AI described Claude’s functional capacity, verbatim:

Mass Data Synthesis (Sorting Huge Amounts of Info): Imagine a super-fast robot reading billions of text messages, emails, and internet posts all at once. It looks for "moods" (like who is angry or unhappy) and makes a map of where those people live.
Intelligence Dossiers (Digital Secret Files): Using smart computer programs to read thousands of pages of documents about one person instantly. It acts like a digital detective, putting together a secret file on someone's whole life.
Automated Tracking (Digital Footprints): Looking at where people drive, what websites they visit, and who they talk to. This combines records to draw a map of where someone goes, like cameras on streets tracking cars.
Law Enforcement Support (Police Tech Tools): Companies like Palantir create software for the police. This software combines information from cameras, bank records, and phone calls to track suspects and help police find them quickly.

The dispute has put Silicon valley on edge. If Trump and Hegseth can change the terms of AI contracts after the fact, why sign contracts at all?

The regime’s dishonesty isn’t helping. Before Trump blacklisted Anthropic, Pentagon officials said they had “no interest” in using the illegal surveillance tools outlined above, while seeking unfettered access to them. Color me, and anyone with half a brain, skeptical.

Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.

Pentagon stand-off with tech firm reaches key moment as admin considers 'nuclear option'

The Pentagon has found itself at odds with a technology firm refusing to give way to demands from Donald Trump's administration.

Pentagon heads made it clear to Anthropic, the artificial intelligence tech firm, that it would need the company to lower its safeguarding measures should it wish to have its tools used by government officials. The tech team has yet to give in to this demand, with chief executive Dario Amodei saying to do so would undermine the defense of the nation.

Department of Defense head Pete Hegseth urged the company to give in to government demands or find their AI no longer in use at the DoD. Amodei replied, "These threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.

"Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider."

If the Department of Defense chooses to move to a different supplier, it could be seen as a bold option for the department.

Michael C. Horowitz, a director at the University of Pennsylvania who oversaw AI weapons policy during the Biden administration, says the Pentagon is no longer trusting of Anthropic after the company resisted the DoD's demands.

Horowitz said, "The Pentagon does not trust that Anthropic will be a reliable vendor, and Anthropic worries about misuse of its technology."

Washington Post staffers Ian Duncan, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Tara Copp suggested the Pentagon could act sooner rather than later should Anthropic fail to meet their demands.

They wrote, "Because Claude is already in use across the Defense Department, exiling Anthropic and switching to a rival could prove costly. Although Defense officials have suggested they could use the Defense Production Act to force the AI company to share its systems, experts are split on whether the law could be applied.

"Doing so would send a chilling message to the AI firms the Pentagon hopes to lean on that they may risk of having their own innovations seized if the government sees something it wants."

Katie Sweeten, a former liaison for the Justice Department to the Pentagon, has said the move would set a worrying standard and could be seen as a point of no return.

She said, "This is a literal nuclear option which I think rightfully companies should be very concerned about."

We have invented a threat so lethal this Trump stooge should not be allowed near it

Which is more important to you? Allowing Pete Hegseth to use artificial intelligence (AI) however he wants, OR preventing AI from doing mass surveillance of Americans and creating lethal weapons without human oversight?

That’s the stark choice posed by the intensifying fight between an AI corporation called Anthropic and Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Secretary of “War.”

AI is dangerous as hell. I view it as one of the four existential crises America now faces — along with climate change, widening inequality, and the destruction of our democracy.

To be sure, AI is capable of changing human life for the better. But if unregulated, it could be a destructive nightmare — giving government the power to know everything about us and suppress all dissent, distorting news and media to the point where no one can distinguish between lies and truth, and threatening human beings with bots that could decide we’re unnecessary obstacles to their taking over the earth.

Now is the time we should be putting guardrails in place. But two forces are making this difficult if not impossible.

The first is corporate greed, which is why OpenAI, Elon Musk’s xAI, and Google have jettisoned all precautions. Several AI researchers have left AI companies in recent weeks, warning that safety and other considerations are being pushed aside as their corporations raise billions of dollars and in preparation for initial public offerings that will make their executives hugely wealthy.

The second is the Trump regime, which doesn’t wants any restrictions on AI — including state government’s. That’s largely because the AI industry has become a powerful force in Washington, throwing money at politicians who’ll do its bidding (including Trump) and against politicians who want guardrails. And because so many Trump officials are corrupt, with their own financial stakes in AI.

Anthropic has been one of the most safety-conscious of all AI companies. It was founded as an AI safety research lab in 2021 after its CEO Dario Amodei and other co-founders left OpenAI, concerned that OpenAI’s ChatGPT wasn’t focused enough on safety.

Amodei has argued that A.I. needs strict guardrails to prevent it from potentially wrecking the world. In 2022, he chose not to release an earlier version of Anthropic’s AI software Claude, fearing it would start a dangerous technology race. In a podcast interview in 2023, he said there was a 10 to 25 percent chance that A.I. could destroy humanity.

In January, Amodei argued in an essay that “using A.I. for domestic mass surveillance and mass propaganda” was “entirely illegitimate,” and that A.I.-automated lethal weapons could greatly increase the risks “of democratic governments turning them against their own people to seize power.” Internally, the company has strict guidelines barring its technology from being used to facilitate violence.

Over the past year Anthropic has battled the Trump regime by pushing for state and federal AI guardrails.

In recent weeks, Hegseth and Amodei have been fighting over the Pentagon’s use of Anthropic’s AI, called Claude. Amodei has stuck to his demands: no surveillance of Americans, and no lethal autonomous weapons lacking human control.

The fight started when Palantir helped the Pentagon capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Palantir is a Pentagon contractor that uses Anthropic’s Claude. (Palantir, co-founded by far-right billionaire Peter Thiel and now headed by Alex Karp, is my candidate for the worst corporation in America because it allows governments, militaries, and law enforcement agencies to quickly process and analyze massive amounts of your personal data.)

When top executives at Anthropic asked executives at Palantir if Claude had been used in the Maduro operation, the Palantir execs became alarmed that Anthropic might not be a reliable partner in future Pentagon operations. They contacted the Pentagon and Hegseth.

Last Tuesday, Hegseth issued Anthropic an ultimatum: It must allow the Pentagon to use its AI for any purpose or the Trump regime will invoke the Defense Production Act — forcing Anthropic to let the Pentagon to use Claude while also putting all Anthropic’s government contracts at risk.

The Pentagon already has agreements with Musk’s xAI to use its AI Grok, and is closing in on an agreement with Google to use its own AI model, Gemini. But Anthropic’s Claude is considered a superior product, producing more accurate information.

What’s at stake here? Everything.

Pentagon officials have said that they have the right to use AI however they wish, as long as they use it lawfully.

But because AI has so much political power, Congress and the Trump regime won’t enact laws to prevent it from doing horrendous things. That in effect leaves the responsibility to private AI companies such as Anthropic. Anthropic says it wants to support the government but must ensure that its AI is used in line with what it can “responsibly do.”

Hegseth and the Trump regime have given Anthropic until this Friday at 5 pm to consent to letting the Pentagon use its AI however it wishes or it will simply take it.

Friends, this isn’t just a dispute between two people — Hegseth and Amodei. Nor is it a fight between the Pentagon and a single corporation. The issue goes way beyond this particular controversy. I don’t want to be overly alarmist about it, but the outcome could affect the future of humanity.

What can you do? Call your senators and representatives now, today, and tell them you don’t want the Defense Department to take Anthropic’s AI technology, and you do want them to enact strict controls on the future uses of AI.

Visit www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member and type your address into the search box. A list of your representatives and their contact information will appear. Or you can call the Capitol switchboard directly at 202-224-3121 to be connected to your members’ office.

As I’ve said before, congressional staffers log every single call that comes into their office in a database that informs the member of the issues their constituents are engaged with, and they use this data to inform their decisions. Staffers answering the phones are trained to talk with constituents, and they do it all day. They won’t be debating you about your position, and are likely to be primarily listening and taking notes.

Please. Today.

Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/. His new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org

'This must end': Candidate calls on Pete Hegseth to be investigated over DOD guest

A Congressional candidate has called for an investigation into Pete Hegseth after the Department of Defense head invited a Christian nationalist to the department.

Pastor Doug Wilson, who believes women should not be allowed to vote, led a worship service at the Pentagon after being invited by Hegseth to do so, the Washington Post reported. Catholic writers and political hopefuls have called out Hegseth for inviting the divisive figure into the Pentagon to deliver a worship service.

Speaking to military personnel gathered at the Pentagon, Wilson told attendees that "stranger things had happened" than a sermon in the Pentagon. He added, "God can do what he likes — and as we should know by now, what He likes to do is to take the most unlikely materials and do something glorious with it."

Fred Wellman, a West Point graduate and 20-year Army veteran running for Congress from Missouri, called Wilson’s appearance this week an “unconstitutional and extreme attack” on the First Amendment.

Taking to X to criticize the decision to invite Wilson, Wellman wrote, "Hegseth is using his official position to make his religion the official one of the Department of Defense using official facilities, communications channels and personnel. This must end and be investigated."

Catholic writer and Democratic operative Christopher Hale also took to social media to criticize Wilson's appearance. He wrote, "Doug Wilson routinely mocks the pope and the Catholic Church.

"It’s beyond shameful that [Hegseth] allowed him to lead taxpayer-funded anti-Catholic worship services."

Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson has since defended Wilson's sermon to Pentagon officials. She said of the visit, "Secretary Hegseth, along with millions of Americans, is a proud Christian and was glad to welcome Pastor Wilson to the Pentagon yesterday.

"Despite the Left’s efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation. Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it."

‘Outrageous’: Top Dem marks wins in court but Trump still wants to hang him

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) would rather not be in the national spotlight because the President of the United States called for him to be hanged, but that doesn't mean he's not prepared to fight to the bitter end.

And this week, the only bitterness was emanating from the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Trump White House suffered major setbacks in its attempt to make an example out of Kelly and other veterans in Congress who cut a video calling on active-duty service members to refuse any unconstitutional orders from Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

That video prompted Trump to say the Democrats were guilty of “seditious behavior,” an offense he claimed was “punishable by DEATH!” He also shared calls from supporters for the Democrats to be hanged.

Hegseth threatened to court martial Kelly, then attempted to reduce his rank and pension.

In an exclusive interview with Raw Story, Arizona's senior senator opened up about the barrage of attacks he and other veterans of the military or intelligence services have endured as a result of such Trump administration assaults.

"This government doesn't want us speaking out against them," Kelly said, while riding the tram underneath the U.S. Senate.

"Such a fundamental American right that we all have is to criticize the government. They don't like criticism."

‘Rights are on the line’

There was a lot of criticism this week over Trump’s attempt to censure the Democratic veterans who spoke out.

On Tuesday, a D.C. grand jury threw out charges the administration sought to bring against Kelly and the five other Democrats who spoke out.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with Kelly, blocking a planned Department of Defense punishment and scolding both the White House and Pentagon — “Horsefeathers!” he exclaimed — for "trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers."

Kelly is a decorated U.S. Navy pilot and astronaut — which is partly why the personal attacks from the Commander-in-Chief have been so unsettling.

"What have you thought of..." Raw Story asked, before the senator finished the question.

"The president wanting to hang me?" Kelly said. "I take a little bit of offense to it, you know, and saying I should be executed. It's outrageous. I mean, he's the president."

On Thursday, Judge Leon ordered Kelly and the Pentagon to come back in 30 days with an update on the issue between them, even as his ruling barred Hegseth from punishing Kelly by reducing rank or retirement pay or by taking any other step.

"There's a process," Kelly said. "I filed a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth to, you know, stop that process.

"The real thing that matters is there are over two million retired veterans — veterans whose First Amendment rights are on the line with this case.

"Because if they can say that me — as somebody who left the military 15 years ago and is a retired service member — that I do not have freedom of speech rights, and I'm a U.S. senator, if they can take away my rank after 25 years and take away some of my retirement pension, they can do that to anybody.

“Much easier to do that to somebody else."

‘I didn’t ask for this’

The high-stakes fight with Trump and Hegseth has raised Kelly's profile, with appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in recent months.

Even with 2026 being a midterm elections year, there's lots of chatter about a Kelly presidential run in 2028. For now at least, he brushes that aside.

"I didn't ask for this," Kelly said. "I was just trying to send a really very simple, basic message that I felt needed to be said, and, you know, this is all Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's doing."

While calling for an execution is about as personal as politics can get, at the end of the day, Kelly laughs Trump off.

"Every day he just says outrageous stuff," Kelly said.

Kelly is confident the courts will continue to rule his way, because of the strength of First Amendment protections.

"The law and the Constitution are on our side here," Kelly told Raw Story. "So, yeah, I mean, anything can happen, but I feel pretty good about it."

Pete Hegseth handed loss as GOP-appointed judge blocks move to reduce veteran Dem's rank

A judge stepped in Thursday to block the Pentagon's move to try and reduce Sen. Mark Kelly's (D-AZ) rank or censure him — a loss for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and major win for Kelly.

Federal Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., a Republican appointee, decided in favor of Kelly in the emergency action and in his decision — using multiple exclamation points — ruled that Kelly should have protections, CNN reported.

"He sees that Mark Kelly, a retired Naval officer and now a U.S. senator, is able to have First Amendment protections and that unfortunately the Trump administration has come in and tried to have some sort of censure or process for Mark Kelly that could hurt him as a former service member because of the things he has said publicly about the Trump administration and the military," CNN reporter Katelyn Polantz said.

Kelly last month had sued Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department over its push to punish him after he and five other congressional leaders made a video in November quoting current law, and reminding service members that the military has a responsibility to refuse illegal orders.

Leon shared his decision Thursday.

"Unfortunately for the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, no court has ever extended principles to retired service members that they want to do here, obedience and discipline if they believe someone has not been obedient in the military, much less has the administration done something to a retired service member serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military," Leon said. "This Court will not be the first to do so!"

"To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from our government and our Constitution demands they receive it!" Leon said.

Kelly avoided indictment from the Justice Department this week. The judge also added that he should not have to fear any criminal or administrative action.

"This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees," Leon said.

Pentagon gives ultimatum to Scouting America — drop 'wokeness' or be dumped

The Pentagon has threatened to drop its decades-long military support for Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts, according to reports Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been critical of the organization and its name change, particularly its decision to allow girls to join the formerly all-male youth program, according to The Washington Post.

The move is the Trump administration's most recent attack on diversity, inclusion and its focus on stopping what it has referred to as "wokeness."

"The organization has been in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s crosshairs for years, ever since the group allowed girls to join and in 2024 said it would rebrand as Scouting America to project its inclusiveness," The Post reported. "Hegseth is an avowed critic of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and has worked aggressively during his tenure atop the Pentagon to purge what he calls 'woke' programs — and people — from the institution."

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued the warning for the organization in a post on X Monday, describing how the "great organization" has "lost its way," and that it would need to drop initiatives considered "woke."

"But, for more than a decade now, Scouting America's leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable," Parnell wrote.

The threat has left questions around the organization's upcoming Jamboree, a 10-day gathering in July that was slated to bring more than 15,000 Scouts from across the United States to West Virginia. In previous years, the event has featured nearly 500 National Guard members, military reservists and active-duty military members who help support the summit. This is "all now in doubt if the organization does not meet the Pentagon’s demands."

Parnell's warning signaled that the organization would have to move to meet its demands. Scouting America has not yet commented on the Pentagon's statement, The Post reported.

"Scouting America and the Department of War are near a final agreement where we believe we can continue our partnership with Scouting America, as long as the organization rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms," Parnell wrote. "They are on the clock, and we are watching."

A leaked report in November signaled that Hegseth’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies would reportedly result in the Pentagon turning its back on Scouting America. In the report obtained by NPR, the outlet reported that Hegseth believes the organization, “once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt, no longer supports the future of American boys,” and is currently designed to "attack boy-friendly spaces.”