Trump: Military 'won't refuse' my orders

 https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/donald-trump-military-orders-republican-debate-220234

Donald Trump says he would have no problem getting the United States military to execute his orders, even ones that might be illegal under international law.

"If I say do it, they're gonna do it," Trump said. "That's what leadership is all about."

Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden said last Friday that if a President Trump were to order the killing of terrorists' families, as he has said he would do, the military would be obliged to disobey.

Asked what he would do if the military disobeyed, Trump seemed to think that would not be an issue.

"They're not gonna refuse me. Believe me," Trump said, remarking that in the Middle East, "they're chopping off the heads of Christians and anybody else that happens to be in the way" and that waterboarding terror suspects would be acceptable. Trump then went on to hit Ted Cruz for vacillating on torture in past debates.

In explaining why killing the families of terrorists would be justified, Trump referred to the families of the 9/11 hijackers. "They knew what was happening. The wife knew exactly what was happening," Trump said.

Hegseth want to legalize war crimes

'Trump is trying to silence me': Sen. Mark Kelly speaks out about Trump and Hegseth's threats

Grand jury refuses to reindict Letitia James in mortgage fraud case

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/04/letitia-james-reindictment-trump/

The refusal by a grand jury in Norfolk was an unusual event — grand juries seldom reject a prosecutor’s case. It marks a major defeat for President Donald Trump, who has made a priority of prosecuting James, a longtime foe. As New York attorney general, James brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his real estate empire, which resulted in a verdict that Trump and others in his company had committed fraud.

Trump is fighting the Institute of Peace in court. Now, his name is on the building

 https://apnews.com/article/trump-institute-of-peace-6545c0101a02b677359f2732b019bf6a

 The Trump administration has renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Donald Trump and has planted the president’s name on the organization’s headquarters despite an ongoing fight over the institute’s control.

It’s the latest twist in a seesaw court battle over who controls the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonprofit think tank that focuse

On Wednesday, the State Department said it renamed the organization to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace to “reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.” The new name could be seen on its building, which is near the State Department.

Watchdog finds Hegseth violated Pentagon protocol in ‘Signalgate’ affair

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/03/hegseth-signalgate-inspector-general-report/

The inspector general inquiry centers on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the unclassified commercial messaging app to share highly sensitive U.S. attack plans.

The Pentagon’s top independent watchdog has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated security protocols and endangered U.S. troops and objectives by using a personal device to share sensitive operational details on the unclassified messaging app Signal, according to people familiar with the findings in a forthcoming report.

How a Man Convicted of Running a Latin American Narco State Landed a Pardon

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/how-a-man-convicted-of-running-a-latin-american-narco-state-landed-a-pardon-c2353aef?mod=hp_lead_pos3

Juan Orlando Hernández’s unusual network of Trump allies and MAGA influencers helped deliver an extraordinary pardon

President Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was the result of something extraordinary for a Central American leader and convicted cocaine trafficker—a web of powerful advocates stretching from Washington to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s announcement stunned the president’s allies and some members of his administration, including officials who spent years building the landmark case against Hernández, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision allowed Hernández, who had been serving a 45-year prison sentence for conspiring with cartels to ship 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S., to walk free this week as the Trump administration escalates its war on narco-traffickers by launching airstrikes on low-level smugglers at sea.

Ex-JAG Officer: Hegseth not being in room for strikes is hard to believe

Hegseth's story on boat strike hinges on a new ‘fog of war’ lie

Video of Hegseth Telling Military Not to Follow ‘Illegal Orders’ Resurfaces

 https://www.newsweek.com/video-pete-hegseth-telling-military-not-follow-illegal-orders-resurfaces-11146747

A video of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly saying there must be "consequences" for carrying out unlawful orders has resurfaced.

"If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that," Hegseth said in the video from 2 2016

In 2016 video, Hegseth says US troops ‘won’t follow unlawful orders’ from the president

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/02/us/hegseth-illegal-orders-video-democrats-kfile-invs

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told an audience in a previously unreported 2016 video that the US military “won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief,” and described the refusal of illegal commands as a part of the military’s ethos and standards — a message he now condemns Democrats for spreading.

Hegseth’s Decadeslong Quest to Rewrite the Rules of Engagement

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/pete-hegseth-military-commentary-career-56727e2e?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Former Army National Guard major and TV personality endeared himself to Trump by defending troops accused of war crimes

Pete Hegseth built a national profile defending troops accused of violating the laws of armed conflict, a trait that won over President Trump in his first term and put him atop the Pentagon in his second.

But the defense secretary who has complained about “stupid rules of engagement” is now at the center of a Washington debate about whether a September strike against a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean amounts to a war crime, testing Hegseth’s standing with lawmakers and his leadership of the military.

Trump said he was ‘sharper than I was 25 years ago.’ Then he spent an hour appearing to doze off – again

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/02/politics/sleep-trump-biden

But over the next hour and a half, Trump struggled to embody the sharpness and vigor he had just laid claim to.

In fact, he seemed to wage a lengthy and often-losing battle with a midday nap. Even as his Cabinet was assembled to engage in one of his favorite activities – singing the praises of Trump – he repeatedly appeared to doze off.

It was the kind of scene, in fact, that Trump once upon a time ridiculed as evidence of a president’s lack of stamina and fitness for the job.

Despite loss, Democrats overperformed in bright red Tennessee House race

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/02/tennessee-aftyn-behn-matt-van-epps-democrats-00674118

Nevertheless, House Republicans privately bemoaned the results.

Speaker Mike Johnson leadership’s team was bracing for a tighter than comfortable race, and the single digit margin was a hard pill to swallow after national Republicans raced to rescue Van Epps in the final days.

“It was too close,” said one House GOP leadership aide.