White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a heated change with NCS’s Kaitlan Collins throughout a briefing over the deaths of US service members within the Middle East within the battle with Iran.
During the Wednesday briefing, NCS’s chief White House correspondent requested Leavitt about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remark at an earlier Pentagon press convention, the place he slammed the mainstream protection of the deaths of the fallen service members and stated it aimed to make President Donald Trump “look bad”, the Independent reported.
Next, Collins and Leavitt entered right into a fiery back-and-forth after the reporter requested about Hegseth’s feedback and information that Trump would attend the dignified switch of the stays of the six soldiers, who had been killed in an assault on a command centre in Kuwait on Sunday.
When requested by Collins if the Trump administration needed the press to not cowl the deaths of US service members prominently, Leavitt replied within the destructive.
“It’s the position of this administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue Iranian regime that has threatened the lives of every single American in this room,” she defined.
Collins: Is it the administration’s place that the press mustn’t cowl the deaths of service members? Hegseth was complaining that it was entrance web page information that these 6 service members had been killed
Leavitt: The press does solely wish to make the president look dangerous. That is an… pic.twitter.com/BHOjC7LMIx
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) March 4, 2026
Collins adopted up with questions on Hegseth’s feedback. Leavitt scolded the reporter for her queries and talked over her, calling her questions “disingenuous” and claiming Hegseth’s phrases had been being misinterpreted.
When the NCS correspondent learn out the whole quote by Hegseth, Leavitt stated she agreed together with his remarks. The press secretary stated the media, notably NCS, desires President Trump to look dangerous, drawing protests from the mediapersons within the room.
“The Secretary of Defense cares deeply about our war fighters and our men and women in uniform. He travels all across this country to meet with them, to connect with them, and your network has hardly ever probably reported on that,” she added.
Collins identified that reporting on Trump’s plans to attend the dignified switch of the troopers’ stays was “showcasing” his presidency. Leavitt took a swipe at NCS’s scores and replied, “If you’re trying to argue that NCS’s overwhelming coverage is not negative of President Trump, I think the American public would tend to agree, and your ratings would tend to agree with that as well.”
US Military Confirms Six Service Members Killed
The US army launched the identities of the six troopers killed in Kuwait throughout the battle with Iran: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M Marzan, Capt Cody Khork, Maj Jeffrey R O’Brien, Sgt Noah Tietjens, Sgt Nicole Amor, and Sgt Declan Coady.
All six died after an “unmanned aircraft system” evaded air defences in Kuwait’s Port Shuaiba, to hit a command centre on Sunday. Three US army officers with data of the assault informed the BBC‘s US associate CBS that the personnel had been working in a makeshift workplace area, utilizing a trailer shielded by steel-reinforced concrete obstacles.
Over 13,000 US troopers are stationed in Kuwait. Iran has responded to US and Israeli strikes by launching missiles at American bases within the Gulf.