{"id":2516579,"date":"2025-12-02T13:52:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wapos-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T13:54:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:54:30","slug":"wapos-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wapos-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/","title":{"rendered":"WaPo&#8217;s Hegseth Hoax Is So Weak Even NYT Can See Through It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwapos-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2516579&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh article discusses a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-slammed-for-article-comparing-joe-rogan-controversy-to-january-6-riot-rwandan-genocide\/\" title=\"CNN Slammed For Article Comparing Joe Rogan Controversy To January 6 Riot, Rwandan genocide\">recent controversy involving<\/a> The Washington Post&#8217;s report accusing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of ordering a strike that lead to the killing of survivors from a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >drug smuggling boat attack<\/a>. The Post&#8217;s story, based on anonymous sources, alleged that Hegseth gave a direct spoken order to &#8220;kill everybody,&#8221; which would constitute a war crime. However, The New York Times published a follow-up report that substantially challenged this narrative. According to the Times, while Hegseth ordered a strike targeting the boat and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-thwart-attempts-to-smuggle-1-billion-worth-of-cocaine-into-australia\/\" title=\"Police Thwart Attempts to Smuggle  Billion Worth of Cocaine Into Australia\">drug cargo<\/a>, subsequent decisions to attack survivors were made by Admiral Frank M.Bradley without further orders from Hegseth. The Times highlighted the lack of clear evidence for the Post&#8217;s claims and pointed out the context missing from the initial explosive story. The Federalist notes that this pattern of publishing misleading anti-Trump stories is typical of The Washington Post, while expressing surprise that the New York Times did not follow suit. Ultimately, the Times&#8217; reporting exposed the original story as weak and suggested the Post was attempting to manufacture outrage by implying war crimes where they arguably did not occur.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=stEXh9VRM4o\">NBC News\/ Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=WaPo%E2%80%99s%20Latest%20Hegseth%20Hoax%20Is%20So%20Weak%20Even%20NYT%20Can%20See%20Through%20It&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=WaPo%E2%80%99s%20Latest%20Hegseth%20Hoax%20Is%20So%20Weak%20Even%20NYT%20Can%20See%20Through%20It&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=WaPo%E2%80%99s%20Latest%20Hegseth%20Hoax%20Is%20So%20Weak%20Even%20NYT%20Can%20See%20Through%20It&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Last week The Washington Post launched yet another anti-Trump hoax, portraying Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as the perpetrator of ruthless war crimes based on anonymous sources. Now The New York Times is debunking the Post&rsquo;s information operation.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the Post&rsquo;s Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/11\/28\/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike\/\">claimed<\/a> that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth &ldquo;gave a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wild-twist-nyt-rides-to-hegseths-rescue-and-demolishes-wapos-kill-them-all-hit-piece\/\" title=\"Wild Twist: NYT Rides to ...&#039;s Rescue and Demolishes WaPo&#039;s &#039;Kill Them All&#039; Hit Piece\">spoken directive&#038;rdquo<\/a>; to &ldquo;kill everybody&rdquo; after a Sept. 2 strike left two smugglers &ldquo;clinging to the smoldering wreck.&rdquo; According to the Post &mdash; which cited two unnamed sources &mdash; &ldquo;The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack &hellip; ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth&rsquo;s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-513376249\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As The Federalist&rsquo;s Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/1995747364196548720?s=20\">pointed<\/a> out, there&rsquo;s nothing unexpected about The Washington Post &mdash; the paper behind the Russia-collusion hoax, the Kavanaugh rape hoax, and the first Trump impeachment hoax &mdash; perpetrating yet another hoax, this time claiming that Hegseth ordered survivors of a strike to be executed. But what <em>is<\/em> surprising is that the Times isn&rsquo;t going along in its usual fashion.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"RXHJs1Y4uw8jCgMa6mbDrZ70FPcxUqe35fhI9oAdvWLzSkBOG2T\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It is not surprising that the WashPost, which originated the Russia collusion hoax, the Kavanaugh hoax, and the first Trump impeachment hoax, would run another false info op. It IS a bit surprising that the NYT isn&rsquo;t going along with it in their normal manner. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7bPNMO1ISY\">https:\/\/t.co\/7bPNMO1ISY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/1995747364196548720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Yes, the story is so flimsy that even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/01\/us\/hegseth-drug-boat-strike-order-venezuela.html\">The New York Times<\/a> called it out (the same Times that once earned a Pulitzer Prize for peddling the Russia-collusion hoax).<\/p>\n<p>The Times&rsquo; Charlie Savage, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, and John Ismay reported that Hegseth &ldquo;ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroy the vessel and its purported cargo of drugs,&rdquo; according to five anonymous U.S. officials. According to the report, Admiral Frank M. Bradley ordered the &ldquo;several follow-up strikes that killed the initial survivors and sank the disabled boat.&rdquo; Hegseth &ldquo;did not give any further orders to him,&rdquo; according to the anonymous sources.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But, each official said, Mr. Hegseth&rsquo;s directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile turned out not to fully accomplish all of those things,&rdquo; the Times reported, before mentioning The Washington Post and the &ldquo;uproar&rdquo; it catalyzed with its initial story about the matter.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Post article did not provide context on when Mr. Hegseth gave what its sources described as a spoken order to kill everyone,&rdquo; the Times continued.<\/p>\n<p>The Times, perhaps unintentionally, explained why the Post&rsquo;s flimsy story was even published: &ldquo;The suggestion that Mr. Hegseth, Admiral Bradley or both targeted shipwrecked survivors has been galvanizing because that would apparently be a war crime even if one accepts the Trump administration&rsquo;s disputed argument for why its boat attacks have been lawful.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the shock value of the story alone was enough to make it publishable because of the &ldquo;uproar&rdquo; that it would &mdash; and ultimately did &mdash; cause. The Post was deliberately trying to manufacture outrage by portraying Hegseth and the administration as committing a war crime. The Times&rsquo; reporting &mdash; uncharacteristically &mdash; exposed the strategy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/drug-smugglers\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">drug smugglers<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/hoax\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">hoax<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kavanaugh-rape-hoax\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kavanaugh rape hoax<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Media<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-times\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">New York Times<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Pete Hegseth<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/propaganda-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">propaganda press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/russia-collusion-hoax\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Russia Collusion Hoax<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/the-new-york-times\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">The New York Times<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/the-washington-post\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-impeachment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump impeachment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/venezuela\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Venezuela<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit NBC News\/ Youtube Share on Facebook, Twitter, Truth Social Last week The Washington Post launched another anti-Trump hoax accusing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of war crimes based on anonymous sources. Now The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2516580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-12.30.53-PM-scaled-e1764696821199.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[68062,33295,36303,15823,7115],"class_list":["post-2516579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-hegseth-hoax","tag-media-criticism","tag-news-analysis","tag-nyt","tag-wapo"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-12.30.53-PM-scaled-e1764696821199.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516583,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516579\/revisions\/2516583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}