Hegseth spent a part of a information convention on US army operations in opposition to Tehran criticizing the media and NCS specifically, urging for what he known as an “actual patriotic press.”
The former Fox News host was notably incensed by a narrative the channel ran suggesting Washington had underestimated Iran’s potential to disrupt world oil site visitors within the Strait of Hormuz.
“Patently ridiculous,” Hegseth instructed reporters, earlier than including: “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
David Ellison is the pinnacle of Paramount Skydance, which is about to finish a landmark takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, the present proprietor of NCS, after beating Netflix in a bidding war.
Earlier this month Ellison vowed to guard NCS’s editorial independence.
His father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, one of many world’s richest males, largely financed the takeover and can be a longtime ally and monetary backer of President Donald Trump.
The White House additionally blasted the NCS story on the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world oil commerce.
“This story is 100% FAKE NEWS,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned in a submit on X.
“The Pentagon has been planning for Iran’s desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for DECADES, and it has been part of the Trump Administration’s planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched,” Leavitt mentioned.
Trump himself has ceaselessly lashed out at NCS reporters, notably anchor Kaitlan Collins, whom he scolded in February for failing to “smile” when she was asking him a query in regards to the victims of late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
© 2026 AFP