Secretary of War Pete Hegseth put a reporter in her place during a press briefing held on April 8, 2026, after she rudely interrupted him as he was calling on another journalist, telling her to “just wait” before continuing to take questions on Iran and the ceasefire deal that was reached. Just before the exchange, Hegseth had wrapped up answering questions about Iran’s nuclear capabilities and what he referred to as a “new regime” dynamic when he started to recognize another reporter.
As he was doing that, a different reporter shouted her question across the room. “Excuse me, why are you so rude? Just wait. I’m calling on people,” Hegseth went on to say, briefly pausing the event to address the interruption. “Thank you.” Then, a few seconds later, he said, “So nasty” under his breath. After that, the reporter he originally called on asked her question.
“Yesterday, in the president’s Truth Social, he threatened to wipe out a civilization. That statement elicited a huge response in America,” she stated. “If Iran did not come to the table and make a deal yesterday by the deadline, was the president really prepared to wipe out Iran entirely?” Hegseth answered by providing an outline of pre-positioned U.S. military options they were considering.
“Like I said, we had a target set locked and loaded of infrastructure, bridges, power plants,” Hegseth replied, according to Fox News. “Remember this is a terror regime. The military regime used all of these things for dual use to fund their military, to fund their terror campaigns.” He then emphasized the huge part deterrence played in negotiations with Iran.
“They knew exactly the scope of what we were capable of,” Hegseth told the reporter. “We hit some military targets on Kharg, which is a bit of a signal. They can’t defend it.” He then said that pressure helped guide Iran’s decision-making at the negotiating table. “Iran ultimately understood their ability, their future to produce, to generate power, to fuel their terrorist regime was in our hands. It was in President Trump’s hands,” the secretary of war said.
“That’s why they came to the negotiating table.” Hegseth then added that the threat of expanding strikes played a significant role in securing a ceasefire agreement. “He ultimately said, ‘We can take it all from you. Your ability to export energy will be taken away, and the United States military has the ability to strike those things with impunity,’” Hegseth explained, making a reference to President Trump.
“That type of threat is what brought them to the place where they effectively say, ‘Hey, OK, we want to cut this deal,’” the secretary continued. At the start of the briefing, Hegseth addressed questions concerning Iran’s nuclear program and clarified where the administration stands on enrichment. “It’s always been non-negotiable that they won’t have nuclear capabilities,” he stated.
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“They will either give it to us voluntarily… or if we have to do something else ourselves… we reserve that opportunity.” A user on social media platform X commented on a clip of the incident, asking, “Why are reporters so rude? It’s not like he won’t get around to them. It seems like most of news media have lost their manners as well as conscience.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video