Pete Hegseth Rages at WaPo Over Report That More U.S. Troops Died in Iran War Than Pentagon Disclosed: ‘DISGUSTING and FAKE’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at The Washington Post on Friday over its report that more U.S. service members have died in the Middle East since the Iran war began than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed, blasting the story as “DISGUSTING and FAKE.”

Just hours earlier, the Post’s Noah Robertson, Tara Copp, Warren P. Strobel and Alex Horton, citing six “officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data,” reported:

Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.

A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war. Not all of the undisclosed deaths are directly tied to the conflict but have involved U.S. personnel who were in the Middle East amid ongoing hostilities, this person said.

“This is DISGUSTING and FAKE. A complete LIE,” wrote Hegseth on X. “Shame on the Washington Post — they’re worse than Iranian state media.”

In July, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had lowered the number of U.S. service members listed as killed in the Iran war from 18 to 14. Three military officials told the Times the four troops were removed from the tally because they died after President Donald Trump declared a since-broken ceasefire in April.

Pentagon acting press secretary Joel Valdez told the Times, though, that the change stemmed from “temporary data disruptions” and “anomalies” affecting the website.

“The department attempted to explain the anomalies to The New York Times ahead of publication, but given their lack of knowledge in this area, they proceeded to write a non-story,” he told the outlet in an email, adding, “We remain committed to ensuring the utmost accuracy of all casualty reporting.”

Hegseth’s attacks on the Post come as the president today announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, promising “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

The post Pete Hegseth Rages at WaPo Over Report That More U.S. Troops Died in Iran War Than Pentagon Disclosed: ‘DISGUSTING and FAKE’ first appeared on Mediaite.