Pentagon finally gets a boss: Senate confirms Army veteran Mark Esper as secretary of defense
It took seven months, but President Donald Trump finally has a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense. Mark Esper, an Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist, won Senate confirmation Tuesday by a vote of 90-8. He was to be officially sworn in by the end of ...
Trump says U.S. working with Pakistan to find way out of Afghan war
President Donald Trump, speaking at a White House meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Monday the United States is working with Islamabad to find a way out of the war in Afghanistan. Trump held out the possibility of restoring U.S. aid ...
Trump: Administration to review $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the administration will "take a very long look" at a massive multibillion-dollar contract the Pentagon is preparing to award for a cloud computing system, citing "tremendous complaints" he's heard about the process. Amazon Web Services Inc., a division of ...
Trump taps Mark Esper to be defense chief, succeeding Jim Mattis
President Donald Trump on Monday asked the Senate to confirm Mark Esper as the successor to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whose resignation last December opened an unprecedented period of senior-level instability at the Pentagon. The moment the nomination was received by the Senate on ...
Trump's Pentagon pick says won't be bullied into making 'stupid decisions'
U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to become his top uniformed military adviser told Congress on Thursday that he would not be "intimidated into making stupid decisions," saying he would always give his best advice, regardless of pressure. The remarks by Army Chief of Staff Mark ...
Trump casts himself, military and Republican VIPs as stars of July 4 pageant
U.S. military armored vehicles stood near Washington's majestic Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday as President Donald Trump pushed ahead with an elaborate Fourth of July production with him at the center, as critics accused him of hijacking a nonpartisan celebration of America's Independence Day. Trump, seeking ...
U.S. preparing to send more troops to Middle East, sources say
The United States is preparing to send additional troops to the Middle East in response to mounting concerns over Iran, which Washington blames for attacks on oil tankers last week, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The officials did ...
Pentagon shares new photos and time-line of Gulf oil tanker attacks
The Pentagon on Monday released new photos and a time-line that it said bolstered U.S. accusations that Iran was behind a pair of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week. The report provides more details about the attacks that have heightened ...
Pentagon seeks funds to boost U.S. rare-earth production as fears over China supply mount
The U.S. Defense Department is seeking new federal funds to bolster domestic production of rare earth minerals and reduce dependence on China, the Pentagon has said, amid mounting concern in Washington about Beijing's role as a supplier. The Pentagon's request was outlined in a report ...
Plan said in works to send up to 10,000 more U.S. troops to Mideast amid Iran threat
In a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, the Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, U.S. officials said. The officials said no final decision has been made ...
U.S. stance on Iran 'deterrence, not about war,' says Pentagon chief
The U.S. defense chief said President Donald Trump's administration was seeking to deter Iran but not start a war, after he briefed members of Congress. "This is about deterrence, not about war. We are not about going to war," Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told ...
Sexual assaults spike 38% in U.S. military, hitting new record
The U.S. Defense Department said on Thursday the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018 compared with a survey two years earlier, data that critics say laid bare broken Pentagon promises of a crackdown. The Pentagon said there ...
