“It takes money to kill bad guys”: Hegseth addresses reports of Pentagon funding request
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth today did not deny a news report that the Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion funding request to Congress for the Iran war.
“So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to, to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is — everything’s refilled and not just refilled, but above and beyond.”
Hegseth added that the requested amount “could move.”
The secretary added that the funding would help replenish munitions, saying, “We’re going to be refilled faster than anyone imagined.”
A senior administration official told the Washington Post that some White House officials don’t think the Pentagon’s more than $200 billion request could realistically pass in Congress. The White House would ultimately have to make the decision on how much to ask from Congress.
Hegseth also addressed concerns that the US is depleting its stockpile and sought to contrast the Trump administration’s priorities with that of the previous Biden administration’s aid to Ukraine.
“We’re also still dealing with the environment that Joe Biden created, which was, which was depleting those stockholds and not sending them to our own military but to Ukraine,” Hegseth said, adding, “Ultimately, we think this should be these, these munitions are better spent in our own interests at this point.”
This post has been updated with additional information.
“We continue to hunt and kill”: Gen. Caine shares details of recent US attacks on Iran
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine shared details today of recent US military action in Iran, including the weapons used, as he stressed that the US continues to “hunt and kill” Iranian facilities and assets. He also pointed specifically to weapons systems that have been used to counter Iranian drones and contribute to efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are some of the weapons the US military has recently used and their targets, according to Caine:
- A-10 Warthog to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz
- AH-64 apaches in Iraq to strike against alleged Iran-aligned militia groups, and aiding in efforts to shoot down Iranian drones
- 5,000-pound penetrator weapons into underground storage facilities
Caine also shared that the US is now “flying further” east in Iran and “penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace” to counter one-way attack garrisons. This destroys “Iran’s ability to project power outside of its borders,” Caine added.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Pentagon briefing today that the United States remains “on plan” for its objectives in its war with Iran, while still not providing a definitive timeline of when that war would come to an end.
“We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame on” the war’s end, Hegseth said.
The ultimate end game would be determined by President Donald Trump, but, Hegseth added, “as we’ve said, we’re on plan.”
Responding to a question about Iran’s continued ability to strike US allies with missiles, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged “they came into this fight with a lot of weapons.”
“This is why we continue to be as aggressive and assertive as we can against their ballistic missile capability,” Caine said. He added, however, that Iran still retains “some capability.”
Correction: An earlier version of this post misattributed a quote to Pete Hegseth. It was actually a quote from Gen. Dan Caine.
