Pete Hegseth explodes at ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ as he claims Iran war is an overwhelming success
Pete Hegseth blasted the media and America’s allies for having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ and declared the war in Iran an overwhelming success.
The Defense Secretary attacked the press for ‘wanting President Trump to fail’ but said the American people ‘know better’.
He also lashed out at ‘ungrateful allies in Europe’ and claimed the whole world ‘needs to say one thing to President Trump’: Thank you.
Hegseth’s collapse comes at a time when the world is suffering from skyrocketing oil prices, prompting new inflation warnings from central banks including the Federal Reserve.
Gasoline While prices rose from $2.90 per gallon to an average of $3.90 before the conflict broke out three weeks ago, the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, continues to be blockaded by Iranian mines and missiles.
While US crude oil rose 1.5 percent on Thursday, global benchmark Brent crude oil rose 5.9 percent to $114 per barrel.
Hegseth said that the war in Iran, which has caused the death of 13 US soldiers and injured 140 soldiers in the Middle East so far, will not be like the wars of “stupid politicians like Bush, Obama and Biden” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Yes, I have reporters in front of me, but they are not our audience today,” the former Fox News host said at a briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday.
Pete Hegseth blasted the media for having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday and declared the war in Iran an overwhelming success.
Iran’s strike on a large Qatar gas field in response to the Israeli attack and the rapid rise in oil and gas prices frightened the markets.
A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike targeting a building in Beirut’s Basura neighborhood in the early hours of March 18.
‘The media here would like you to think that, just 19 days after the conflict began, we have somehow spiraled into an endless abyss or quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth.’
Hegseth’s briefing came just hours after Trump battered Israel for its unilateral strikes on Iranian gas fields, which sparked a violent retaliation against America’s Arab allies and caused market turmoil.
Trump accused Israel of ‘lashing out’ and claimed the US ‘knew nothing about the attack’, which resulted in the bombing of energy sites in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Trump had previously asked Israel to refrain from attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure; He feared rising energy prices causing turmoil in global markets and warnings of inflation at home.
America’s Arab allies are reportedly angry at Israel’s attack and the United States’ failure to stop it.
Gulf allies have demanded that the Trump administration halt all US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Gulf officials said they felt Israeli attacks left them vulnerable in war.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday night, Trump threatened that Iran’s South Pars gas field would be ‘completely massively blown up’ if it continued to target refineries.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on March 2, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran
Hegseth holds a briefing with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the US-Israeli war against Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, March 19
Interior of a destroyed apartment, with the Tel Aviv skyline visible in the background, following an overnight Iranian missile attack on March 19
Trump speaks with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as he leaves the White House on March 18
“Israel, angered by events in the Middle East, violently attacked a major facility in Iran known as the South Pars Gas Field,” Trump wrote.
‘The US had no knowledge of this particular attack and the country of Qatar was in no way involved in this attack and had no idea it was going to happen.’
An Iranian official likened these developments to a ‘full-scale economic war’.
As tensions rose, Trump appeared to draw a red line on Israel’s attacks on the South Pars field before launching a major threat against Iran.
Trump said, “There will be no further attack by Israel on this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field.”
However, if Iran decides to attack Qatar again, Trump said all bets are off and he will use devastating force.
