Zookeeper and conservationist Robert Irwin filed a $60 million lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. A rumor that circulated online in October 2025 claimed (archived) zookeeper and conservationist Robert Irwin filed a $60 million lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth is said to have lost the respect of his senior officers after an “embarrassing” speech in which he railed against “fat troops” and the state of the US armed forces.

Deployment of a carrier group marks a major escalation of U.S. forces in a region that has already seen an unusually large military buildup.

House Democratic leaders, led by Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia, are launching an investigation into President Trump's reported demand that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for federal investigations into him.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, hint that the story was fabricated was that Hegseth no longer works for Fox News.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the incident on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and noted that Pete Hegseth “is safe” following his plane's emergency landing in the U.K.

A new memo on communications with Capitol Hill, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, follows restrictions on reporting out of the Pentagon.

As someone who has become accustomed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s past excesses, I sort of saw the new rules for journalists coming.