Pete Hegseth Ends “Woke” Military Program Created by Trump

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday bragged about ending a military program he described as “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative.”

But that initiative—the Women, Peace & Security program—was started by the Trump administration in 2017 after he signed a bipartisan bill authored by Kristi Noem and Jan Schakowsky. The measure was also supported at the time by Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio. Three of those four people named now work at the highest levels of the Trump administration.

“This morning, I proudly ENDED the ‘Women, Peace & Security’ (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense. WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING,” Hegseth wrote on X. “WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it. DoD will hereby executive the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!”

Yet in 2020, Trump-appointed Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman described this same program as a worthwhile national effort.

“By recognizing the diverse roles women play across the spectrum of conflict—and by incorporating their perspectives throughout plans and operations—DOD is better equipped to promote our security, confront near-peer competitors, and defeat our adversaries,” he said.

“When we recognize the diverse roles women play as agents of change; and when we incorporate their perspectives throughout our plans and operations, we are better equipped to promote our security, confront our near peer competitors, and defeat our adversaries,” said Stephanie Hammond, another Trump Defense Department staffer. “It will help the department strengthen alliances and attract new partners by demonstrating U.S. commitment to human rights and women’s empowerment, making the United States the partner of choice.”

The program Hegseth is now vilifying was fully backed by MAGA, and it takes anyone about 30 seconds to figure that out. Another honest blunder from Hegseth—whose name has been rightfully followed by words like “embattled” and “controversy” ever since his Cabinet nomination—would be unsurprising. Or maybe he’s just lying blatantly again.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is trying to prevent Democrats from opening up inquiries into the Trump administration.

Johnson used his authority on Monday to advance a measure in the House Rules Committee that would prevent any votes on “resolutions of inquiry,” which would take away one of the few oversight tools that House Democrats have as the minority party in the chamber.

These types of resolutions are privileged, which push them to the top of the House agenda. If the majority party on a committee does not report a resolution of inquiry to the full House, the resolution can be brought to the floor without the speaker’s permission, forcing a vote.

At the moment, Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are using one of those resolutions to demand answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about U.S. attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, and about how the Pentagon is handling classified and sensitive information. Hegseth’s use of private group chats on the Signal app to discuss U.S. airstrikes in Yemen have prompted House Democrats to push for more information.

Republicans, with Johnson’s backing, have responded by pausing resolutions of inquiry until September 30, hoping that questions about “Signalgate” (and any other oversight attempts) from the Democrats will die out. Republicans hid the pause inside another set of resolutions attacking former President Biden’s environmental policies.

With this cowardly move, Johnson and the House GOP have made it harder for Democrats to ask the Trump administration for documents about Signalgate, or any other issue. It’s a blatant favor to President Trump, and effectively weakens Congress’s oversight powers over the executive branch. It’s more proof that Trump owns the Republican Party and wants to exercise total control over the government, the constitutional separation of powers be damned.

Donald Trump has received failing marks from voters in his first 100 days in the White House.

A new poll by NPR/PBS/Marist published Tuesday found that when asked to give the president a letter grade for his efforts during the first three months of his presidency, 46 percent of respondents who were registered voters selected an “F.”

Twenty-four percent of respondents graded Trump with an “A.”

The poll was conducted between April 21 and 23, amid the president’s crackdown on immigration, threats against the judiciary and due process, and a 90-day easing of his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs, which have rocked global markets.

But Trump isn’t very interested in receiving a report card. “The Polls from the Fake News are, like the News itself, FAKE! We are doing GREAT, better than ever before,” he wrote on Truth Social late Monday night.

This is just one in a spate of humiliating polls for the president.

An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll published Sunday found that Trump’s approval rating had plummeted to 39 percent, a 6 percent drop from February. Fifty-five percent of Americans said they disapproved of the job he’s doing in office, which is the lowest first-100-day rating of a president since modern polling began roughly 80 years ago. A poll from The New York Times was similarly bleak, with 66 percent of respondents thinking “chaotic” accurately described Trump’s first 100 days. Fifty-four percent thought Trump had exceeded his executive powers, and 50 percent already said he’s made the economy worse.

Trump was so incensed by that result that he demanded a criminal probe into the pollster.

A top GOP pollster suggested that while Trump wasn’t necessarily alienating his own voter base, he was bleeding independents, nonpartisans, and people who already didn’t like him.

The president is following through on his threats to transform the American military into domestic watchdogs.

Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday titled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Civilians,” effectively tasking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to work out the kinks in determining “how military and national security assets” and personnel “can most effectively be utilized” to hamper crime.

The executive order also directed the creation of a legal defense mechanism to further shield law enforcement from potential consequences, and specifically tasked Bondi with prioritizing “holding state and local officials accountable” for potential wrongdoing, such as “directly and unlawfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out duties.”

It’s not the first time that Trump has threatened to turn the U.S. military on American citizens. Before Election Day, he suggested that the National Guard could be tapped to subdue “radical left lunatics” and individuals that he described as the “enemy from within.”

But Trump has  obviously been ruminating on the idea for a while. In September 2020, he warned that he would use force against Democrats if they chose to protest in the streets following his potential win on Election Day.

“We’ll put them down very quickly if they do that. We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that, if we want,” Trump said at the time, according to Politico.

“Look, it’s called insurrection,” he continued. “We just send in, and we do it very easy. I mean, it’s very easy. I’d rather not do that because there’s no reason for it, but if we had to, we’d do that and put it down within minutes.”

Ironically, it was his own followers who violently protested the election results.

The Trump administration is baring its teeth after Amazon announced it will show consumers exactly how much they’re being hurt by the president’s sweeping tariffs. 

The multinational corporation divulged on Monday that it would begin displaying how much of a product’s price is due to Trump’s tariff increase right next to the final cost, a level of transparency that makes it clear that the Trump administration bears responsibility for any price increases.  

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt took this act as a declaration of war, calling it a “hostile and political act.” 

“It was reported this morning that Amazon will soon display a little number next to the price of each product that shows how much the Trump tariffs are adding to the cost of each product,” a reporter asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared alongside Leavitt at a press briefing early Tuesday morning. “So isn’t that a crystal clear demonstration that it’s the American consumer, and not China, who is gonna have to pay for these policies?” 

Leavitt stepped in. 

“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years? And I would also add that it’s not a surprise. As Reuters recently wrote: ‘Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm,’” she stated. “So this is another reason why Americans should buy American; it’s another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home to sure up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here.” 

“So is Jeff Bezos still a Trump supporter?” the reporter followed up.

“Look, I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos, but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political action by Amazon,” Leavitt replied.

This is a very confusing response. Amazon is showing the very real impact of the president’s wanton and spiteful tariff policies, something it has no control over. And yet the administration is describing it like some act of terror. How is it hostile to let Americans know just how much their president is costing them? This administration is willing to lie and finger-point to keep Americans in the dark about the negative impacts of Trump’s trade war.