Reporter Asks Pete Hegseth If Israel Taking Advantage Of America

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth denied claims from critics on Tuesday about Israel’s involvement in operations against Iran, stating that the United States was “leading” the operations against Iran.

President Donald Trump announced Operation Epic Fury in a video posted on Truth Social early in the morning of Feb. 28. The reporter brought up comments by critics who claim that Israel pushed Trump into a needless war during a Tuesday press conference.

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“Well, I would just state by saying Israel’s been a really strong partner in this effort, where they have different objectives, they’ve pursued them, ultimately, we’ve stayed focused on ours, but what Iran has felt is the power of the world’s two most powerful air forces,” Hegseth responded. “In that particular case, that wasn’t our, those weren’t our strikes or that objective, or that wasn’t necessarily our objective, but the president has made it clear to those concerns that we’re not getting pulled in any direction. We’re leading. The president is leading. He’s determining where we want to go, what the outcome will be, what the end state is, with a very keen eye.”

“I understand those concerns because I’ve heard from a lot of people who went through, I went through 20 years of those wars myself, worried about getting dragged in, worried about mission creep, worried about nation building or democracy expansion, that’s never the perspective the president has pursued on this,” Hegseth continued.

Some critics have pointed to