Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Pentagon secretly hired military veterans as paid right-wing influencers to promote Pete Hegseth — The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has secretly hired military veterans with large social media followings to act as paid right-wing influencers to push Pete Hegseth's propaganda. Although these individuals are now government employees, the Pentagon refuses to provide details on their assignments. Their taxpayer-funded job is to "amplify Pete Hegseth's" messaging.
• Pentagon hires right-wing social media influencers as government employees — The Pentagon has hired right-wing social media influencers as special government employees using taxpayer money to amplify Defense Secretary Hegseth's viewpoints and attack critics of the Trump administration. Reported hires include Rob Maness, Kurt Schlichter, and Thomas Anderson. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on their job content, salaries, or employment duration.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hired right-wing social media influencers as Pentagon employees — Washington Post Pentagon reporter Dan Lamothe reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hired right-wing social media influencers to work at the Department of Defense as Special Government Employees (SGEs) to promote him on social media platform X. Retired Colonels Rob Maness, Kurt Schlichter, and Tom Anderson acknowledged being SGE employees for the Pentagon after the article's publication. The Pentagon had previously declined to comment on the issue and withheld information about the SGEs' status for days, including after speculation on social media.

Supporting reports

• Pentagon designated press office as classified facility — The Pentagon designated its press office as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a classified space. Journalists, including those who retain press badges, now require appointments to speak with the press secretary. This represents an escalation of Pentagon efforts to control information about military operations that have been ongoing for months.
• Pentagon designates press office as classified facility, bars journalists from entry — The Pentagon's acting press secretary Jose Valdez announced that the Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) due to speechwriters handling classified material, resulting in a blanket ban on journalist access to the office space. This move follows months of escalating restrictions on press access to the defense department, including a September mandate requiring journalists to pledge not to gather unauthorized information and an October announcement of a curated "next generation" press corps. The New York Times has sued the Pentagon twice over these policies; a federal judge ruled against the Pentagon in March, but an appeals court stay allowed the government to continue enforcement while appealing.
• Pentagon designates press room as classified facility — The Department of Defense announced on June 2, 2026, that the Pentagon press office, the longstanding workspace where journalists seek information from military and defense officials, is now a classified space off-limits to the press. The stated reason is that speechwriters handling sensitive material need the room. The Pentagon designated the press room as a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), which allows reporters to be excluded on classification grounds.

Supporting reports

• Secretary Hegseth refuses to answer questions about girls school strike — During a 60 Minutes interview, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked directly whether the U.S. bombed the Iranian girls school. He declined to provide a substantive answer, stating only that the matter "is being investigated, which is the only answer I'm prepared to give." Fox host Laura Ingraham subsequently criticized the response, calling for the administration to "wrap up its investigation and address head-on" the "horrible unintended tragedy."
• Secretary Hegseth held press conference avoiding questions on Iranian school bombing — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth conducted a press conference where he called exclusively on right-wing media outlets (Gateway Pundit, OAN) and avoided all questions about the bombing of an Iranian girls school that killed at least 175 people, mostly children. Neither Hegseth nor Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine commented on any investigation into the bombing. A reporter attempting to ask about it was ignored.

Supporting reports

• Paramount launched hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, offering $30 per share in an all-cash offer directly to shareholders. The move followed Paramount's loss to Netflix in a competitive bidding process for Warner Bros. Discovery. Trump had previously stated there "could be a problem" with the Netflix deal.
• Kushner and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds finance hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners, along with sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar, are providing $24 billion in equity financing to back Paramount's $77.9 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The bid was announced Monday to counter Netflix's accepted $72 billion acquisition offer. Paramount's SEC filing discloses that foreign governments are supplying the majority of equity capital while claiming to forgo governance rights to avoid Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review. Kushner simultaneously serves as an advisor to President Trump on foreign policy while collecting tens of millions in annual fees from the same Middle Eastern governments.
• Paramount claims foreign investment in WBD acquisition falls outside CFIUS jurisdiction — In its SEC filing for the hostile takeover bid, Paramount asserts that the $24 billion in equity financing from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Affinity Partners (Kushner's firm) is structured to fall outside the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States by having the foreign entities forgo governance rights and board representation. The article notes that this claim is legally questionable, as CFIUS retains authority to investigate foreign ownership arrangements regardless of nominal governance restrictions, and that the structure tacitly acknowledges Kushner is using Affinity Partners as a vehicle for foreign influence.