Daily Mail: Hundreds of thousands of Americans ‘may lose disability benefits as Trump plans to overhaul Social Security’

A new report has emerged, alleging that the Trump administration is considering removing a key factor from the assessment of an individual’s eligibility for Social Security disability payments.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the Trump administration is reportedly preparing a plan to significantly change how older individuals qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Daily Mail that ‘President Trump will always protect and defend Social Security for American citizens. 

‘The only policy change to Social Security is President Trump’s working families tax cut legislation that eliminated taxation of Social Security for almost all beneficiaries – which every single Democrat voted against,’ Desai added.

According to individuals who spoke with the Washington Post, the proposal would make it harder for older workers to qualify for the benefits, and the change could impact hundreds of thousands of Americans.

This change is also supposedly one of many being considered by the administration in an effort to overhaul the federal safety net for older, poor, and disabled individuals.

The Social Security Administration currently evaluates disability claims by considering a person’s age, education, and work experience to determine if someone can adjust to various kinds of work.

Older applicants, typically those over age 50, have historically been more likely to qualify, as age has been considered a factor that limits a person’s ability to transition to new types of employment.

Under the proposed plan, officials are reportedly considering either removing age as a factor altogether or raising the threshold to 60 years of age. According to three individuals familiar with the proposal who spoke on condition of anonymity, this change would represent one of the most significant shifts in how disability claims are evaluated in decades.

The administration is also reported to be working on modernizing the labor market data used in these assessments. The current database, long criticized as outdated, still includes obsolete jobs such as ‘nut sorter’ and ‘telephone quotation clerk.’ Following a 2022 Washington Post investigation that highlighted these issues, officials are now seeking to replace the old data with more current labor statistics that reflect today’s job market.

Experts say it is difficult to estimate exactly how many people could lose access to benefits under these proposed rule changes. 

However, a recent analysis by Jack Smalligan, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute and former Office of Management and Budget official, suggested that if eligibility were reduced by just 10 percent, about 750,000 people could lose benefits over the next decade. 

Additionally, about 80,000 widows and children could lose benefits tied to a disabled spouse or parent.

Smalligan noted that many older Americans who apply for disability benefits often struggle to find new employment. If age were no longer considered, more individuals might opt for early retirement instead, resulting in permanently reduced monthly payments.

The initiative is reportedly being led by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who has long sought to revise disability rules. Supporters argue that longer lifespans and less physically demanding work justify tightening eligibility, while critics warn the move could leave vulnerable Americans without needed support.

The Daily Mail reached out to the Office of Management and Budget, as well as contacts for the U.S. Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committees for comment outside of regular business hours.

President Trump has repeatedly pledged not to touch entitlement payments despite significant pushes by him and his allies to cut spending across various areas of government. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15163927/disability-benefits-Trump-Social-Security.html

CBS News: Growing tensions with ICE agents in Chicago

For weeks now, armed federal agents, some in full tactical gear, have been patrolling downtown Chicago. Ash-har Quraishi reports on Operation Midway Blitz.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/growing-tensions-with-ice-agents-in-chicago/vi-AA1NV0Xa

Slingshot News: ‘I Moved A Submarine Or Two’: Trump Puts His Incompetence On Display, Brags About Flirting With A Nuclear Conflict During Self-Absorbed Tirade

During his remarks at the Department of War this month, Trump bragged about flirting with a nuclear conflict with Russia. Trump stated, “I moved a submarine or two.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-moved-a-submarine-or-two-trump-puts-his-incompetence-on-display-brags-about-flirting-with-a-nuclear-conflict-during-self-absorbed-tirade/vi-AA1NSSVy

ABC News: Tensions rise amid anti-ICE protests in Chicago

State Rep. Lilian Jimenez joins ABC News Live to discuss the Trump administration’s decision to send 300 National Guard troops to Chicago.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tensions-rise-amid-anti-ice-protests-in-chicago/vi-AA1NUa5l

Time: ‘Military-Style’ ICE Raid On Chicago Apartment Building Shows Escalation in Trump’s Crackdown  

At around 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, armed federal agents rappelled from helicopters onto the roof of a five-storey residential apartment in the South Shore of Chicago. As other agents worked their way through the building from the bottom, they kicked down doors and threw flash bang grenades, rounding up adults and screaming children alike, detaining them in zip-ties and arresting dozens, according to witnesses and local reporting.

The military-style raid was part of a widespread immigration crackdown in the country’s third-largest city as part of the Trump Administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has brought a dramatic increase in federal raids and arrests.

The raid has drawn outrage throughout Chicago and the state of Illinois, with rights groups and lawmakers claiming it represents a dramatic escalation in tactics used by federal authorities in the pursuit of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Read more: White House Anti-Terror Order Targets ‘Anti-Capitalist’ and ‘Anti-American’ Views. Here’s What To Know

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused the federal agents of separating children from their parents, zip-tying their hands, and detaining them in “dark vans” for hours. Videos show flashbang grenades erupting on the street, followed by residents of the building—children among them—being led to a parking lot across the street. Photos of the aftermath show toys and shoes littering the apartment hallways, evidence of those pulled from their beds by the operation that included FBI and Homeland Security agents.

‘Military-style tactics’

Pritzker condemned the raid and said that he would work with local law enforcement to hold the agents accountable. “Military-style tactics should never be used on children in a functioning democracy,” he said in a statement on Friday. “​​This didn’t happen in a country with an authoritarian regime – it happened here in Chicago. It happened in the United States of America – a country that should be a bastion of freedom, hope, and the rights of our people as guaranteed by the Constitution,” he added.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has touted some 900 arrests in its Chicago operation since it began in early September, as well as the 37 arrests made in the nighttime raid on Tuesday, all of whom it said were “involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes and immigration violators.” The DHS said the building was targeted because it was “known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video of the raid on social media, overlaid with dramatic music, showing helicopters shining bright lights onto the apartment, kicking down doors and armed agents leading people out of the building in cuffs.

A DHS spokesperson told CNN following the raid that children were taken into custody “for their own safety and to ensure these children were not being trafficked, abused or otherwise exploited.” The DHS also said that four children who are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents were taken into custody.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to send federal authorities and troops to Chicago and other Democratic-run cities to assist in immigration raids and to address what he perceives to be rampant crime.

The Trump Administration launched expanded immigration enforcement operations in Chicago on Sept. 8 as part of a wider federal crackdown on sanctuary cities across the country.

“This operation will target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Chicago,” ICE Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in support of the operation.

Chicago officials mounted a pushback ahead of the crackdown. The city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, signed an order directing Chicago law enforcement and officials not to cooperate with federal agents and established an initiative intended to protect residents’ rights. The city of Evanston, an urban suburb of Chicago, issued a statement warning its residents of impending raids by ICE agents and urging them to report sightings of law enforcement.

Zip-ties and guns

In the aftermath of the sweeping raid, residents and city lawmakers have been demanding answers from the federal government. 

Ed Yohnka, from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU), told MSNBC on Saturday that the raid represented “an escalation of force and violence” from the federal government in Chicago. 

“What we saw was a full-fledged military operation conducted on the south side of Chicago against an apartment building,” he added. 

“They just treated us like we were nothing,” Pertissue Fisher, a U.S. citizen who lives in the apartment building, told ABC7 Chicago in an interview soon after the raid. She said she was then handcuffed, held for hours, and released around 3 a.m. This was the first time she said a gun was ever put in her face.

Neighbor Eboni Watson, who witnessed the raid, also told the ABC station that the children were zip-tied—some of them were without clothes—when they were taken out of the residential building by federal agents. “Where’s the morality?” Watson said she kept asking during the raid.

“As a father, I cannot help but think about what it means for a child to be torn from their bed in the middle of the night, detained for no reason other than a show of force,” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) president Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “The trauma inflicted on these young people and their families is unconscionable.” 

ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TIME.

Protests in the aftermath

The increased raids have turned Chicago into a flashpoint in the battle over Trump’s crackdown. Protests have hit the city in recent weeks over the ICE operations, and after the raid on Tuesday, they have concentrated outside the ICE Broadview detention facility near Chicago.

On Friday, at least 18 protestors were arrested near the facility as DHS head Kristi Noem said in a post late in the day that she and her team were blocked from entering the Village of Broadview Municipal Building.

“This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. Absolutely shameful,” Noem said in a post on X.

On Saturday, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin shared on social media that law enforcement officers were “rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars.”

“One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon,” McLaughlin said. “Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.”

ICE’s tactics were criticized again on Friday, when Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed by federal immigration agents at a Chicago medical center after questioning agents about their warrant to arrest at the medical center.

Chicago’s Mayor Johnson called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s tactics “abusive.”

The raids come just days after President Trump signaled a desire to make greater use of the U.S. military in American cities during a speech to top military leaders, as he assailed a “war from within” the nation.

“We are under invasion from within,” he said, “no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms.” In the same speech, he called for U.S. cities to be “training grounds” for the military.

Trump has frequently singled out Chicago in his long-running feud with Democratic-run cities, threatening it with his newly named “Department of War.”

https://time.com/7323334/ice-raid-chicago-pritzker-trump

Independent: Trump admin discussed sending the battle-ready 82nd Airborne Division into Portland, leaked texts reveal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address protests President Donald Trump called “lawless mayhem,” according to text messages

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to PortlandOregon, to address what President Donald Trump called “lawless mayhem,” according to text messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Last weekend, in a crowded public setting, high-ranking Trump administration officials reportedly exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Army’s 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.

Ultimately, the administration opted to deploy 200 federalized National Guard troops to Portland rather than active-duty Army forces. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have filed suit in federal court seeking to block that deployment.

While traveling in Minnesota, Anthony Salisbury, deputy to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, reportedly used the private messaging app Signal to send the texts, which were visible to people nearby.

Concerned by the public discussion of sensitive military plans, a source, fearing retaliation, anonymously provided the Star Tribune with images of the texts. The newspaper confirmed Salisbury as the sender using photos, video, and facial recognition, while verifying the authenticity of the messages, it reports.

The Independent has contacted the White House and the Department of War on Saturday for comment.

Over dozens of messages, Salisbury spoke candidly, sometimes profanely, with Hegseth’s adviser, Patrick Weaver, and other officials, claiming that Hegseth wanted Trump’s explicit approval before sending troops into the city.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” Weaver allegedly wrote.

He recognized the political risks of sending Army troops to a U.S. city, adding that Hegseth preferred deploying the National Guard instead.

“82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines,” Weaver added. “Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

When approached for comment by the Star Tribune, the White House reportedly declined to address the substance of the texts, but defended Salisbury, noting he was in Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer at a family funeral.

“Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the outlet in a written statement. “Nothing in these private conversations, that are shamefully being reported on by morally bankrupt reporters, is new or classified information.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to answer questions for this report, but stated that the messages reflect officials “working around the clock.” A spokesperson also criticized the Star Tribune for refusing requests to provide access to the images or transcripts of the texts.

“The Department of War is a planning organization and does not speculate on potential future operations,” Parnell said. “The Department is continuously working with other agency partners to protect federal assets and personnel and to keep American communities safe.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-portland-82-airborne-texts-b2839399.html

Mediaite: Leaked Texts Reveal Trump Officials Floated Airborne Troops to ‘War-Ravaged’ US City

Trump administration officials privately discussed sending one of the country’s most hardened combat units into Portland, Oregon, leaked Signal messages reveal.

Anthony Salisbury, a top deputy to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, was reportedly exchanging messages with War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s adviser Patrick Weaver over Signal in a crowded public space last weekend while traveling in Minnesota to a family funeral.

The alarmed source shared images of the exchange with the Minnesota Star Tribune under condition of anonymity.

According to the newspaper the texts reveal discussions about deploying the 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, a unit better known for parachuting into World War battlefields and Afghanistan than patrolling American streets.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” wrote Weaver.

Another message acknowledged the political cost of such a move: “82nd is like our top tier for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

Hegseth wanted to send the National Guard instead, he added.

The administration ultimately ordered 200 National Guard troops to what the president called “war-ravaged” Portland on September 28. Both the state of Oregon and the city of Portland have since sued to block the deployment, arguing it violates federal limits on the domestic use of the military.

The revelations underscore remarks by President Donald Trump days in an address at Quantico to generals and admirals floating American cities “training grounds” for the armed forces.

Elsewhere the exchange revealed information about other ongoing campaigns within the cabinet, according to the outlet, with Salisbury insulting FBI director Kash Patel as a “giant douche canoe.”

The White House did not respond to questions on the exchanges by attacking the journalists reporting as “morally bankrupt.

Daily Beast: Trump Goon Spills Bonkers Plan to Deploy 82nd Airborne to Blue City

A senior White House aide’s messages were shared with a newspaper after he used Signal in a crowded public place.

A senior White House official accidentally disclosed that the Trump administration was considering deploying an elite army strike force into Portland by using Signal in a public place.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Friday that Anthony Salisbury, one of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, was observed discussing the plans via Signal in view of members of the public while traveling in Minnesota. The newspaper was then contacted by one member of the public who was troubled to see sensitive military plans discussed so openly.

In the messages, senior White House officials discussed the potential deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an elite unit that specializes in parachuting into hostile territory. The division has been deployed in both world wars, including the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Across several conversations, the Star Tribune reports, Salisbury spoke about a range of matters with Pete Hegseth adviser Patrick Weaver as well as other officials.

In one of the messages, Weaver revealed that Hegseth wanted Trump to explicitly instruct him to send soldiers to Portland.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” Weaver reportedly said.

Noting the potentially disastrous optics around sending an elite division into an American city, Weaver told Salisbury, “82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

Ultimately, Trump opted to send 200 National Guard soldiers into Portland, following a similar playbook used in other Democrat-controlled cities like Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Both the state of Oregon and the city of Portland have sued to stop the deployment.

Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, told the Daily Beast, “Tony recently traveled to Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer in his uncle’s funeral who passed away from cancer. Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people.“

“Nothing in these private conversations, that are shamefully being reported on by morally bankrupt reporters, is new or classified information,” Jackson continued. “Frankly, this story just shows the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock—and even through funerals—to make America safe again.”

The incident marks the second time in six months that the Trump administration has experienced issues as a result of insecure lines of communication.

Earlier this year, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal chat where several high-ranking government officials discussed the logistics of a strike on Yemen’s Houthis.

The fiasco was quickly dubbed “Signalgate” and ultimately led to national security adviser Mike Waltz, who was responsible for adding Goldberg to the chat, leaving his role at the National Security Council. President Trump later appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump has consistently asserted that sending soldiers into cities is the only way to address rampant crime. Meanwhile, the White House has admitted to “reconfiguring” crime statistics to suit Trump’s agenda after claiming that other official statistics are “phony.”

The president’s crime crackdown, which has been concentrated entirely on blue cities, is proving more and more unpopular with the American public. After looking at recent polling on Monday, CNN data guru Harry Enten told viewers, “If Donald Trump thinks that potentially sending in the National Guard into cities like Portland is a winning political issue, the polling says you’re wrong, Mr. President!”

Trump also faced a significant blow after a federal judge ruled that his deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles was illegal, with Judge Charles Breyer finding that the president had violated the Posse Comitatus Act by requiring armed soldiers to carry out domestic law enforcement activities.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-goon-spills-bonkers-plan-to-deploy-82nd-airborne-to-blue-city

Guardian: Body slamming, teargas and pepper balls: viral videos show Ice using extreme force in Chicago

A facility in Broadview, a mostly Black suburb, has become the site of escalation and ‘targeted attacks’ on protesters

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, a border patrol sector chief, were seen at an Ice facility in suburban Chicago on Friday where law enforcement has been cracking down on protesters.

In recent weeks the Broadview facility has become the site of escalations by federal agents against protesters and journalists. Videos of agents deploying tear gas, pepper balls and roughly throwing protesters to the ground have gone viral, amidst the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration targeted Chicago with federal law enforcement starting in August, falsely claiming there had been a rise in crime in the city in recent years. Since then, there have been increasingly aggressive reports of Ice enforcement in communities, including helicopters hovering over apartment raids. There have also been arrests of local officials and candidates for office who were protesting, including Illinois’ ninth congressional district Kat Abughazaleh, who went viral with a video of an Ice agent slamming her to the ground, Daniel Biss, the Evanston mayor, and a city alderman who were aggressively arrested while trying to advocate in a hospital setting.

In Broadview, several people were arrested early Friday morning, after Ice along with Illinois state police, the Cook county sheriff’s office and other local law enforcement arrested and shoved protesters gathered for a weekly demonstration.

A local cabinet-making business, adjacent to the Broadview Ice processing facility, has had tear gas seep into their warehouse and workers hit by pepper balls, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

On Thursday, a group of Illinois law enforcement agencies, including the Broadview police department had announced they were forming a unified command to “enable the peaceful expression of the first amendment”, as well as ensure that local businesses and people in Broadview were kept safe, according to a press release. The statement also said: “The agencies involved in this operation will neither assist nor obstruct enforcement of federal immigration statutes in compliance with state and federal law.”

Broadview, the mostly Black, working-class suburb of around 8,000 people, has become a flashpoint in what the Department of Homeland Security has deemed “Operation Midway Blitz.” There aren’t any figures publicly available for how many people are detained at the Broadview facility, which is not staffed or intended to be run as a detention center.

In the state of Illinois, almost 5,000 people have been detained this year, according to data from The Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Chicago Sun-Times.

For the people detained inside the facility, they describe not receiving adequate food or water, and having to use the bathroom in public. One person described to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter, not having soap or toothpaste and dealing with severely overcrowded conditions.

Katrina Thompson, the Broadway mayor who has been in office in since 2017, said in a letter to DHS that Ice agents were “making war in our community”, last Friday, and in response the agency warned there would be a “s—t show” in Broadview.

The treatment of protesters and journalists has drawn attention to Broadview.

One protester, named A’keisha who declined to share her last name, said that it seemed like Ice agents wanted to hurt protesters.

“What was unique on the first day is that it didn’t feel like Ice had planned to use their legal tools to remove us,” she said. “They have the right, right to say, ‘Y’all gotta leave, arrest them.’ But they didn’t. They chose instead to be violent and, like, push us and throw us to the ground and drag us.”

A’keisha has been involved in faith-based movements to end mass incarceration for years and has organized against militarization for almost a decade. She said she was moved to join protests because of her Haitian heritage and solidarity with immigrant communities.

Another protester, Reverand David Black of the First Presbyterian church of Chicago, said that he was pelted with about seven or eight “pepper exploding pellets” that hit his head, face, torso, arms and legs, while in a position of prayer.

Nature, books and naked bike rides: Portlanders refute Trump claims they are ‘living in hell’Read more

“I’m not a political ideologue, but I am very deeply rooted in my faith, in the ways that it calls me to show up in this moment as someone who can proclaim the good news and call these Ice agents into their right mind,” he said.

Local journalists have been detained or attacked by federal agents as well. Over the weekend, Steve Held, Unraveled Press co-founder and reporter, was detained by agents while covering a protest outside of the facility. A Chicago-Sun Times reporter was also tear-gassed and pelted with “rubber projectiles”, according to the outlet.

On Sunday morning, CBS Chicago News reporter Asal Rezaei, was attacked by an Ice agent who shot a pepper ball into her car from about 50ft away and was exposed to chemicals on her face. She said in a social media post that after the incident, she was “puking for two hours”.

In addition to protesters and journalists, legal observers, often delineated in the Chicago-land area by their bright neon green hats that read “legal observer” were also attacked in recent weeks by Ice agents.

“There has been an extreme escalation in the use of force by federal agents at that facility against people who are exercising their first amendment rights, and targeted attacks against members of the press and legal observers with The National Lawyers Guild,” said Molly Armour, a volunteer attorney with the National Lawyers Guild Chicago for over 15 years.

What was most troubling about the behavior of federal agents at Broadview for her, Armour said, was the use of “violent military-style offensive weaponry used against people, such as tear gas canisters, [and] different kinds of aerosol chemical agents”, particularly against people just observing what’s going on.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/04/ice-chicago-extreme-force-protesters-journalists

SFGATE: Pete Hegseth is f—king embarrassing

SFGATE columnist Drew Magary on America’s secretary of war

Pete Hegseth! Remember that guy? Former Fox News weirdo? Famous for drinking on the job? Accused of sexual assault before paying a settlement to make that lawsuit go away? Tapped to head the Department of Defense and then accidentally texted his war plans to the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic? Oh yes, I think you’re quite familiar with Hegseth. He’s a real asshole! And an embarrassing one, too!

Well, guess what? The leaders of our armed forces also got to know this brave, pickled s—t for brains. In case you’ve stopped reading the news because it makes you want to seek out the sturdiest rafter in your basement, President Donald Trump and Hegseth summoned the top brass of the American military to Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday for an all-hands meeting. This would be a super cool idea in, say, a “Mission: Impossible” movie. In real life, it’s a conference call that could have been an email. S—t, Hegseth is already a veteran of blasting out group messages for doing war. But using secure channels to issue directives means that Hegseth wouldn’t get to be seen issuing them. And in Donald Trump’s government, being seen is all that matters. So let’s see Hegseth rallying the troops on Tuesday and feel inspired!

Yes, the man in charge of our newly rechristened Department of War really took the stage in front of a bunch of seasoned, professional, high-ranking officers and proceeded to go epic bacon mode. Here’s the showstopper line from that clip:

“Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO. If necessary, our troops can translate that for you.”

(sigh) It stands for “F—k around and find out.” What a powerful message to send. Because until Trump took office, we all know that other countries were like, “You know, the Americans seem pretty chill. I bet they’d never violently overreact to any perceived slight!”

I wish that this were the only cringe-worthy thing that Hegseth said to the crowd on Tuesday. But this is 2025, where wishes are zip-tied and forcefully deported to El Salvador. So Hegseth took the opportunity to deliver a full speech of cringe to our troops; a sort of “F—k you for your service” message that surely left all of the men and women in that room confident that their new boss totally knows what he’s doing. With that in mind, I collected a few more choice passages from Hegseth’s address for your perusal so that you and I can say “F—k you” right back to him. Let’s hear more!

“You see, this urgent moment of course requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more Patriots, more submarines, more B-21 bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything and ahead of the curve, more cyber effects, more counter UAS, more space, more speed.”

Just last month, Congress passed a funding bill for Hegseth’s department that clocked in at nearly $900 billion, a record high. I think that number allows for all the munitions, drones and robot sharks our military could possibly need. Then again, shouldn’t there be more AI in there, so that a drone pilot can take a pee-pee break while WarGPT detects and neutralizes a threat coming from Afgharistad? 

“Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable leaders.”

Does that mean you’re resigning? Because that would probably do the trick.

“That is who we need you all to be. Even then, in combat, even if you do everything right, you may still lose people because the enemy always gets a vote.”

Just in case you were thrown by the vagueness here, “the enemy” in question is a gay voter.

“The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things. … You might say we’re ending the war on warriors. I heard someone wrote a book about that.”

He did. Pete Hegseth wrote that book. Stick around after having your job threatened and he’ll sign YOUR copy! And you should stick around, because for far too long, this country has been far too hostile to its “warfighters.” Why just this past weekend, I watched NFL league officials burn a flag before kickoff between the Packers and Cowboys, and then kick every member of the color guard square in the crotch! Disgusting!

“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts.”

I can’t believe we promoted BLACKS to higher ranks. Did Jackie Robinson really die for this?

“We became the woke department.”

So true. Remember when they painted the Pentagon rainbow colors for Pride month?

“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics.”

How’d you do it, Pete?

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses.”

Oh thank God. No more trans in uniform! That’s diluting our killforce with politics! You can’t hunt down Osama bin Laden using a gender-neutral latrine!

“No more climate change worship.”

Finally, I can stop worshipping the false idol that is the only inhabitable planet in the known universe. Earth: What it is good for?

“No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris. As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that s—t.”

OMG HE SWORE! This guy isn’t some namby-pamby sissy boy! He’s like Axl Rose!

“The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit. Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or under trained troops or alongside people who can’t meet basic standards, or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in, in a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The answer is not just no, it’s hell no.”

When I was in middle school, I had a T-shirt that said HELL NO TO FAT CHICKS. So I’m glad to see Secretary Pete is fully aligned with my values. And he’s not done taking it to our fattest service members! Give ’em hell, sir!

“It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.”

This part makes perfect sense when you remember that President Lard wants everyone working for him to be hot enough to appear on television. If you’re a general in our army, and you’re not on an aggressive HGH regimen, or you’re unable to rock a pair of stiletto heels that makes Rupert Murdoch harder than an AP exam, you’re OUT.

“Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we’re codifying it. And we’re not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching.”

We’re not talking about QUEER physical training. And if you ask for avocado toast at the mess hall, that’s five months in the brig.

“This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.”

Has this idiot met the vice president? Because JD Vance has a beard for FM radio. 

“Because it’s like the broken windows theory in policing. It’s like you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes, so you have to address the small stuff.”

The broken windows theory was discredited many years ago and served largely as a template for then-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani to send turnstile jumpers directly to the electric chair.

“This is on duty, in the field and in the rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave. No more beardos. … The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.”

Damn, he hit JD with the “beardo” tag. No coming back from that. Anyway, I appreciate the War Department instituting a no facial hair policy right after the New York Yankees abandoned theirs (the Yankees stranded three runners in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night and lost 3-1 to the hated Boston Red Sox).

“The definition of toxic has been turned upside down, and we’re correcting that. … We’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic.”

The war on hazing is over! And just to make certain that bullies and hazers can flourish in the new Department of War, Hegseth and his boss are making it easier for enlistees to squeal on their commanding officers if those officers go toxic (woke)! Just like in the good old days! In fact, Hegseth now has a process for determining if you’re sufficiently old-school, and it’s rooted in hard science!

“Here are two basic frameworks I urge you to pursue in this process … the 1990 test and the E-6 test. The 1990 test is simple. What were the military standards in 1990? And if they have changed, tell me why.”

Because it’s 35 years later? Because American morale in 1990 was so low that Kurt Cobain was able to turn that ennui into culture-altering music?

“Was it a necessary change based on the evolving landscape of combat, or was the change due to a softening, weakening or gender-based pursuit of other priorities? 1990 seems to be as good a place to start as any.”

Here’s a random year that Pete drew out of a hat. BE MORE LIKE THIS YEAR. LISTEN TO MORE TRIXTER.

“Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since 1948. The same goes for sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal. Those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly enforced.”

BUT …?!

“But telling someone to shave or get a haircut or to get in shape or to fix their uniform or to show up on time, to work hard, that’s exactly the kind of discrimination we want.”

We will NOT tolerate discrimination in our ranks. Unless you’re fat, or weak, or gay, or trans, or a woman reporting sexual assault, or you have that sort of dirtbag goatee that every liquor store clerk has.

“We know mistakes will be made. It’s the nature of leadership.”

Like when you texted war plans to the Atlantic, yeah?

“But you should not pay for earnest mistakes for your entire career. And that’s why today, at my direction, we’re making changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable earnest or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.”

All of you are entitled to violate a maximum three of your subordinates with a broomstick. If you need these violations to wage war properly, so be it.

“An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength.’ … They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they’re females is totally normal. They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks. They were told to kick out Americans who refused an emergency vaccine.”

I will NOT stand here and let the department of woke discriminate against any soldier willing to infect his entire platoon with smallpox!

“We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”

This was always the goal of conservatives decrying political correctness and wokeness. They didn’t just want license to treat nonwhite, non-hetero, non-males like garbage. They wanted license to abuse and to kill them should those people ever dare to pilot a boat. This ambition was clear during Trump’s first administration, when he pardoned former Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who used his position as a sniper to gun down innocent Iraqis at randomAmon Goeth-style. SecWar Pete would now like all of our troops to Be Like Eddie. So don’t let the wokescolds tell you that killing is “wrong.” God, those people are such tight-asses!

“Today is another liberation day, the liberation of America’s warriors, in name, in deed and in authorities. You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.”

I know I feel better when the man tasked with supervising the most lethal military in world history addresses his charges like they’re the prisoners from “Con Air.” Like Trump, Hegseth delivers this speech as if he’s starring in his own biopic. You can hear him waiting for a standing ovation that never comes, and it’s pathetic. This meeting served only the secretary’s whiskey-addled daydreams, and not a single active member of our armed forces. Many of the quotes you read above will be etched in stone one day, on a monument that will be torn down by a joyous protest mob.

This has been a deeply embarrassing time to be an American, and somehow Pete Hegseth has made that embarrassment even more pronounced. I bet all of the men and women and gender-fluid people (I’m woke, deal with it) in that room on Tuesday were also embarrassed. These people enlisted out of love for their country, and to do something valuable with their lives. Now they have to take orders from a narcissistic lunatic who wants them to cut weight so they can kill and pillage more efficiently. It’s disgraceful. It’s also just so, so uncomfortable. I wanna bury myself alive when I read all of this dogs—t.

At least Hegseth, toward the end of his speech, gave those same hardworking Americans an out:

“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign. We would thank you for your service.”

That’s actually a threat, because this administration knows only how to speak in threats. But you know what? I say you folks should call the man’s bluff. Please, all of you, resign. Quit your jobs. Don’t work another second for this corrupt department. Pete Hegseth spent all of Tuesday f—king around with our service members. Time for him to find out.

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/pete-hegseth-is-embarrassing-21078716.php