Military News
Coverage of the armed forces, defense spending, and global security challenges. The Daily Signal offers news, analysis, and conservative commentary.
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opinion
Pete Hegseth’s Military
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I’d like to speak a little bit today, very briefly, about the Pentagon under new Defense… -
news
Conservatives Express Support for Colby for Pentagon Post
Elbridge Colby, nominated to be undersecretary of defense for policy, received robust support from conservative Republicans over the weekend after there was some online discussion of potential Senate holdouts on his confirmation over previously expressed views on Iran. Colby is set to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a to-be-determined date for a… -
opinion
‘It Doesn’t Happen Often’ Is Not a Reasonable Defense for Men in Women’s Sports
Americans are gaining ground in the fight to protect women’s sports. This week, for example, the Department of Education sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations, urging them to restore female athletes’ records. The demand comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive orders to… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A watchdog group is asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revoke the security clearance of Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor who had ties to the now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and bankrolled litigation against President Donald Trump. Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, sent the… -
opinion
Role of US Military at Southern Border
President Donald Trump is surging resources to America’s southern border, including military personnel, and has every right to do so, according to Robert Greenway. “It is not unprecedented for the military to be called in [to the border] when the capacity of our law enforcement agencies is exceeded, and that’s almost certainly the case now,”… -
news
‘Far-Left Nonsense’: Iraq War Veteran Explains Impact of Trump’s Executive Order on Military DEI Initiatives
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—An Iraq War veteran appeared Monday on Fox Business to talk about President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop woke practices within the U.S. armed forces. Trump plans to sign a trio of executive orders pertaining to the military, including one that will eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the U.S. Defense Department. Another will… -
news
New Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Shows Changes Already in Motion
THE CENTER SQUARE—Pete Hegseth, the newly-confirmed U.S. secretary of defense, says changes to the military are already in motion. Hegseth told reporters outside the Pentagon Monday that President Donald Trump will soon authorize the reinstatement of military members who were discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, with backpay. He also hinted that military… -
news
Hegseth Confirmed as Defense Secretary
President Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was confirmed in a 51-50 vote as Vice President J.D. Vance broke a tie in the Senate Friday, ending one of the most contentious and vital confirmation battles of Trump’s early administration. Vance’s tie-breaking vote to confirm a cabinet member was the second in American history after… -
news
Sen. Tuberville Calls Out Biden’s Defense Secretary for Alleged Violations of Federal Law
As Democratic senators attack Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth for alleged incompetence, Republicans are sounding the alarm on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s repeated disappearances for medical treatment, which were allegedly in violation of federal law. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has been a vocal critic of Austin in recent days. On Friday, the Alabama senator called out… -
opinion
Hegseth’s Right, Dems Are Wrong. DEI Didn’t Make Military More ‘Lethal,’ It Fueled Historic Recruiting Crisis.
A focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion has damaged the effectiveness of the U.S. military and hurt recruitment numbers. Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, on Tuesday. One exchange in particular highlighted the wrongheaded thinking that infects some in the current U.S. leadership… -
news
Medal of Honor Recipient David Bellavia Comes to Pete Hegseth’s Defense
Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia stood up for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal Monday, arguing that his longtime friend has been the victim of a smear on the part of “grifting frauds.” In the weeks since President-elect Donald Trump announced Hegseth as his nominee, the legacy… -
opinion
From Woke to Warfighting: How Pete Hegseth Can Fix the Pentagon
Decades of social engineering have transformed America’s armed forces, prompting concerns about the Pentagon‘s warfighting capabilities and politicized culture. It’s the reason President-elect Donald Trump picked Pete Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of defense: to restore lethality as the military‘s primary focus. Fixing the Pentagon won’t be easy, but it’s imperative to restore America’s… -
news
What’s in Store in 2025 for US From China’s Military?
China’s communist secretary-general, Xi Jinping, turned down an invitation to attend the U.S. inauguration offered by President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, between Dec. 9 and 11, the Chinese Communist Party sent the People’s Liberation Army in large numbers around Taiwan and into the Philippine Sea. As the Jan. 20 inauguration approaches, recent trends in military operations… -
news
House Dems Bemoan GOP Effort to Block Military Funding for Child ‘Sex Changes’
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—House Democrats are attacking the Republican Party’s move to stop the military from paying for child sex-change treatments in the National Defense Authorization Act. House Republicans negotiating the most recent iteration of the National Defense Authorization Act managed to include language that expressly prohibits the military from paying for “medical interventions for the treatment… -
news
Heritage Foundation Ad Buy Backs Hegseth’s Bid for Defense Chief
The Heritage Foundation launched an ad campaign on Friday promoting President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. On Nov. 21, The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America announced the launch of a $1 million campaign advocating for prompt Senate confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Of that, $50,000 will go toward bolstering… -
opinion
Pentagon Loses Track of $2.5 Trillion
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. The Pentagon has failed its seventh audit in a row, losing track of $2.5 trillion worth of assets. Where will Elon Musk possibly find $2 trillion of waste and fraud? Last week, the Pentagon once again failed its… -
news
Congressman: Pete Hegseth Must Reform ‘Woke’ Military
As Democrats deride President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, one congressman says Hegseth is just the man to turn the Biden-Harris administration’s “woke and weaponized” military into a “strong and focused” fighting force. Trump’s proposal to remove underperforming or politicized generals would actually depoliticize a Pentagon that once… -
opinion
Kamala Harris’ ‘Intruder’ Crack: Joke or Serious Comment on Self-Defense?
In an interview last month with talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, Vice President Kamala Harris once again played up her status as a gun owner, emphatically declaring: “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot!” Let’s put aside the reality that her well-armed and taxpayer-funded security detail almost certainly would confront any would-be intruder long… -
opinion
Naval Academy’s Choice of Speaker Runs Afoul of Pentagon Edict
By inviting a speaker, history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat of New York University—who has already said that she plans to attack presidential candidate Donald Trump in the annual Bancroft Lecture at the U.S. Naval Academy on Oct. 10—the academy is violating Defense Department directives prohibiting the military from engaging in partisan political activity. In addition to… -
news
Rep. Banks Demands Accountability for Military Training Branding Pro-Lifers as Terrorists
Rep. Jim Banks is demanding that the individual responsible for the military training that portrayed pro-life Americans as terrorists must be held accountable. Banks, R-Ind., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel, hosted a hearing Thursday, “Oversight of Extremism Policies in the Army.” The Indiana lawmaker, who is running for Senate,…