Feb 27 Watch 6:22 Why the Trump administration is clashing with AI firm Anthropic By William Brangham, Veronica Vela, Dan Sagalyn The clash between Anthropic and the U.S. government escalated with President Trump ordering every federal agency to stop using any of the AI company's products. It came after Anthropic wanted to limit how the Pentagon used one of its AI… Continue watching
Feb 27 Transgender youths are targeted in Scouting America changes pushed by the Pentagon By Ben Finely, Jamie Stengle, Associated Press Hegseth has criticized Scouting America's historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes he sees as part of "woke culture."… Continue reading
Feb 26 Anthropic 'cannot in good conscience accede' to Pentagon's demands, CEO says By Konstantin Toropin, Matt O'Brien, Associated Press The maker of the AI chatbot Claude said in a statement that it’s not walking away from negotiations, but that new contract language received from the Defense Department “made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of… Continue reading
Feb 21 U.S. military airlifts small reactor for the first time as Trump pushes to quickly deploy nuclear power By Matthew Daly, Associated Press The Pentagon and the Energy Department for the first time airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating what they say is the U.S. potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. Continue reading
Feb 15 U.S. forces board another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean By Associated Press The Defense Department says U.S. forces boarded the Veronica III overnight. It is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under U.S. sanctions related to Iran, according to the website of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Continue reading
Feb 11 Pentagon-FAA dispute over lasers to thwart cartel drones led to airspace closure, AP sources say By Seung Min Kim, Ben Finley, Mary Clare Jalonick, Morgan Lee, Josh Boak, Associated Press The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday stemmed from the Pentagon's plans to test a laser to shoot down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, sources told the Associated Press. Continue reading
Jan 12 Sen. Kelly sues the Pentagon over Trump administration attempts to punish him By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Sen. Mark Kelly asked the federal court in Washington, D.C., to rule that the censure letter, the proceedings about his rank and any other punishments against him are “unlawful and unconstitutional."… Continue reading
Jan 07 Trump proposes massive increase in 2027 defense spending to $1.5 trillion to build 'Dream Military' By Aamer Madhani, Associated Press The 2026 military budget is set at $901 billion. Continue reading
Dec 16 Watch 7:34 What's in the massive defense bill giving the military more funding than requested By Nick Schifrin, Lisa Desjardins, Dan Sagalyn, Jonah Anderson Defense Secretary Hegseth rejected calls to release the full video of a boat strike the military carried out in September. That attack was the first of 25 acknowledged strikes that the administration says were operated by so-called "narcoterrorists." At the… Continue watching
Dec 04 Watch 3:35 Pentagon leaders brief lawmakers on U.S. boat strikes, fueling debate over legality By Nick Schifrin, Kayan Taraporevala A new bipartisan divide has broken open after senior U.S. military officers showed Congress video of multiple strikes on a boat in the Caribbean in early September. Republicans backed the decision by a Special Operations commander to target survivors of… Continue watching