Overview
- At a Pentagon briefing Friday on the U.S. war in Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took two questions from TMZ DC about his feelings when ordering strikes and whether he would rename his department to “Peace.”
- Hegseth replied that his focus is equipping troops and said he wants them, within U.S. law, “to bring maximum violence to the enemy” because “war is violent.”
- He dismissed a new name, saying the shift to “Department of War” reflects “peace through strength,” and added that the U.S. military should win the Nobel Peace Prize every year.
- The questions were widely labeled unconventional, with conservative outlets noting TMZ’s unusual presence and liberal outlets faulting Hegseth’s militaristic language.
- The moment comes as TMZ’s new Washington bureau, launched this month, starts appearing at top government briefings, signaling a broader move by entertainment media into political reporting.