Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg consolidates control over Pentagon shipbuilding and acquisitions — Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, a private-equity billionaire and close ally of Defense Secretary Hegseth, is consolidating control over shipbuilding and Navy acquisitions—roles traditionally held by the Secretary of the Navy. Feinberg is simultaneously overseeing the newly created Economic Defense Unit (EDU), which directs government investment in private defense contractors and has negotiated deals for the government to take equity stakes in those businesses.

Supporting reports

• U.S. military munitions stockpiles depleted by Iran war — The New York Times reported that the U.S. has burned through approximately 1,100 long-range stealth cruise missiles (close to total remaining stockpile), over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles (10 times annual procurement), more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles at $4 million each, and over 1,000 ATACMS ground-based missiles in the Iran war. The Pentagon has been forced to rush munitions from Asia and Europe commands, leaving those regions less prepared to confront Russia and China, and forcing urgent scaling up of production.

Supporting reports

• Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith — The Pentagon terminated Jacqueline Smith, the ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, the independent military newspaper. Smith had publicly criticized Defense Secretary Hegseth's restrictions on press freedom within the military. Congress had established the ombudsman position specifically to protect the newspaper's editorial independence from Pentagon control. Smith's farewell column warned that Pentagon leadership has placed "more and more restrictions on the mainstream media" and urged Americans to prevent Stars and Stripes from being "controlled by Pentagon brass."
• Stars and Stripes editor fired for warning about Pentagon editorial control — Tim Richardson with PEN America reported that Jacqueline Smith, an editor at Stars and Stripes (the official Department of Defense newspaper), has been fired after spending months warning readers, the public, and Congress about Pentagon efforts to shift editorial decision-making away from the newsroom and into the hands of political appointees. Smith was terminated for raising these concerns publicly.

Supporting reports

• Trump orders Navy to shoot Iranian boats near Strait of Hormuz based on nonexistent minesweeping operation — President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot Iranian boats near the Strait of Hormuz, citing a minesweeping operation that does not exist. The order represents a direct military command based on a false premise, escalating tensions in a critical international waterway and potentially violating rules of engagement and international law governing naval operations in contested waters.

Supporting reports

• ICE detains wife of US Army sergeant at Louisiana military base — ICE agents arrested Annie Ramos, wife of US Army Sergeant Matthew Blank, at his Louisiana military base as he prepared to deploy. Ramos, a biochemistry student and Sunday school teacher with no criminal history, had received a deportation order "in absentia" in 2005 after her family missed an immigration hearing when she was an infant. She was released from federal custody following media coverage and subsequently issued a statement focusing on obtaining legal immigration status.