Trump Rushing To Overhaul Pentagon, But It Won’t Be Easy

- June 4, 2026
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Wednesday that he threatened to “kick ass” during a heated confrontation last year, while firmly denying reports that he threatened to punch the now-acting Director of National Intelligence “in the face.”

The unusual exchange emerged during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, where Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) pressed Bessent about reports surrounding a confrontation between the two Trump administration officials during the summer of 2025.

According to Bessent, one key detail in the widely circulated account was inaccurate.

While he denied threatening.

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Seijah Drake was born in Boston, MA, where she developed a penchant for writing early on and a passion for politics in college. After college she worked briefly for a conservative media in New York before relocating to the Greater D.C. Area to pursue a career in political marketing. She now resides in the free state of Florida.

Staff Sgt. Theodore Bergan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
6 minute read

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – President Donald Trump’s new defense secretary vows to ‘rapidly’ field emerging tech and capabilities to deter China and others.

NEED MORE POWER! Trump and OpenAI’s announcement that it would invest half a trillion dollars to build new AI data centers around the country will be great for the Pentagon, but the US lacks the energy resources and computing power to support the new infrastructure.

Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on a wide swathe of products and materials — reportedly including materials critical to the nation’s defense supply chain — could drive up some military programs’ costs and cause delays.

It’s time for a new Key West agreement to redefine roles and missions for the US military services like they were first laid down in 1948. These accords have remained in place, despite extraordinary changes in the national-security environment. Service missions need to be revisited in light of these changes.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

HOMELAND SECURITY

Military troops provide deportation support and construction efforts at the southern border.

Trump White House releases video of Marines at southern border.

The Trump White House claimed victory in a showdown with Colombia over accepting flights of deported migrants from the US on Sunday, hours after Trump threatened steep tariffs on imports and other sanctions on the longtime U.S. partner currently led by a far-left president.

A federal judge barred Army veteran and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without the court’s approval after Trump commuted the far-right group leader’s 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating part of the Jan 6 Capitol riot four years ago.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

VA places 60 staff on leave after shutting down DEI offices as part of Trump’s government-wide crackdown on the divisive discriminatory issue.

POLITICS

Iraq War combat veteran and former Fox News Host Pete Hegseth was confirmed as the next defense secretary by a narrow, partisan margin Friday.

As a Coast Guard harassment survivor, I support Trump’s firing of Admiral Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard, for mishandling a yearslong investigation into sexual assault and harassment at the Coast Guard Academy that top leadership hid.

WAIT! WHY DID BIDEN LEAVE THEM THERE FOR FOUR YEARS?! Families of US service members who live in Afghanistan are stuck in the country and blocked from relocating to the US due to a Trump executive order. THIS IS LIKELY TEMPORARY.

Trump is mobilizing a new guard of tech billionaires and venture capitalists to overhaul the Pentagon’s multi-billion-dollar space acquisition process.  And they want to take on legacy defense contractors.

Trump fires at least a dozen agency inspectors general – including the IGs for the departments of Defense, State and Energy – without proper notice, watchdogs say.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Air Force puts fighters, airmen through dispersal drills in Japan, South Korea for flying and fighting on the move.

US Marines and the Japanese Ground Self Defense will join for the bilateral exercise ‘Iron Fist’ on Japan’s southwest islands.

Four US Army units, including the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division and a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Battalion will deploy to Europe, Middle East and South Korea this spring.

IRAN THREAT/MIDDLE EAST

Hamas frees 4 female Israeli soldiers kidnapped in 2023 in exchange for 200 Palestinian criminals as fragile ceasefire holds.

Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip was met with a hard “no” Sunday from the two US allies along with the Palestinians themselves, who fear Israel would never allow them to return.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Trump wants to withdraw 20,000 US troops from Europe and demand a subsidy from allies to pay for the remaining US military presence there.

US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine, Zelenskyy says, after new Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would pause all new foreign aid grants for 90 days.

Ships, sea drones and AI: How NATO is hardening its defense of critical Baltic undersea cables.

US special forces train with NATO to protect underwater infrastructure.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

North Korea says it tested cruise missile system and vows ‘toughest’ response to what it called the escalation of US-South Korean military drills that target the North.

SPACE THREAT

Five years after the creation of the Space Force, the US hasn’t quite unlocked the full military potential of space. The US military should be maximizing and diversifying space weapons across the joint force. It should also reverse policies that rule out kinetic counterspace weapons and reassess the military advantages of space-to-ground weapons.

Space Force expects to spend 40% more on commercial SATCOM this year, with nearly $2.4 billion dollars in contracts not only for USSF, but also combatant commands and every other military service.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Key EU military official urges sharpening of its mutual-defense clause and start considering the division of labor in the event of a conflict.

Trump’s foreign aid suspension: Which African countries stand to lose the most.

Rubio’s criticism of Algeria buoys Berber separatists. The Kabyle independence movement is banking on Trump’s new secretary of state to get behind its political aspirations.

US MILITARY

The Navy’s new sci-fi short “Sea Strike” video showcases how new tools including artificial intelligence, drone wingmen and lasers could help in future peer-to-peer warfare in 2043.

Could repurposed oil rigs become the Navy’s new floating reloading and logistics hubs?

Marines take aim with new high-tech anti-drone system in Hawaii, using their new hunter-killer system to blast dozens of target drones out of the sky.

The Marines recently experimented with new tactical 5G networking capabilities as it expands its adoption of the tech to enable nimbler operations in more complex environments.

The Air Force has 1,150 empty fighter pilot billets in 2024, and aviators leaving the service in droves. The fix? More planes and more pilots kept in the reserve.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

READ NEXT: Caught Red-Handed: Dr. Phil’s Shocking Encounter Leaves Illegal Sex Offender Speechless!

Picture of Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for state and federal office, taught political science, wrote for the editorial board of a major newspaper and had his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and from abroad. To read more go to: paulcrespo.com.

1 Comment
    VietVetinOhio

    Someone PLEASE explain what the value of AI sites across the USA would accomplish? More spying on Americans? I hope not.

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