In a passionate defense on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stood firm in support of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth amidst criticism over his recent comments. Hegseth had suggested that media outlets were using the deaths of six U.S. military personnel in the conflict with Iran as a means to undermine President Trump’s image.

During a press briefing, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posed a pointed question concerning the administration’s stance on media coverage of fallen service members. She inquired whether the administration believed that the press should refrain from prominently reporting on the deaths of U.S. soldiers. This query came just after Leavitt had announced President Trump’s plans to attend a dignified transfer ceremony for the war casualties.

Leavitt responded with determination, stating, “No. The administration’s position is that the press, both in this room and nationwide, should focus on accurately reporting the accomplishments of Operation Epic Fury.” She emphasized the operation’s impact in countering the Iranian regime, described as a significant threat to American lives.

She continued, “If given the chance, the Iranian regime would harm every individual here. Therefore, we should all be thankful for an administration, and for the brave men and women in our armed forces, who are willing to put their lives on the line for the safety of everyone in this room and all Americans.”

Attempting to redirect the conversation, Collins pointedly noted, “But Secretary Hegseth expressed dissatisfaction with the front-page attention given to the deaths of these six service members.”

Collins interjected, “But Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed.”

“That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlan. And that’s not what the secretary meant, and you know it!” Leavitt replied as the exchange grew heated.

“You know you’re being disingenuous. We’ve never had a secretary of defense who cares more.”

As Collins read Hegseth’s quotes, Leavitt defended him again.

“The press does only want to make the president look bad. That’s a fact. Especially you — no, listen to me — especially you and especially CNN,” Leavitt proclaimed.

“The secretary of defense cares deeply about our warfighters and our men and women in uniform. He travels all across this country to meet with them, to connect with them. And your network has hardly ever probably reported on that.”

Leavitt indicated during the briefing that Trump’s trip to the dignified transfer event at Dover Air Force Base is still being scheduled.

Karoline Leavitt gives a MAJOR BLOW to CNN’s Katilan Collins, leaving her GAGGED.

COLLINS: “Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed.”

LEAVITT: “That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlan. And that’s not what… pic.twitter.com/8abgw5ZW35

— DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) March 4, 2026

“President Trump intends to attend the dignified transfer of these American heroes to stand in grief, alongside their families,” she said.

The Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon identified four of the six killed as Army Reserve Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa.

Trump rates Iran war a ‘15’ out of 10

Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the war was going well — after the Pentagon announced that twice as many bombs fell as during George W. Bush’s 2003 “shock and awe” blitz on Iraq.

“We’re going to continue to do very well on the war front, to put it mildly,” he said at an event focused on generating more electricity for artificial intelligence.

“Somebody said on the scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15. And we’re going to continue to do well. We have the greatest military in the world by far.”

Trump said “we’re in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going — everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead. And it’s an amazing thing that’s taking place before your eyes, because for 47 years, we were pushed around, and we shouldn’t have been.”

The president said: “Their missiles are being wiped out rapidly. Their launches are being wiped out. They’re attacking their neighbors… And you know, it’s really a nation that was out of control.”

Trump justified the war by saying that “when crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.”

Leavitt said at her briefing moments earlier that “Iran’s murderous terrorist leaders are paying for their crimes against America. And they are paying in blood,”

“Future generations of Americans will look to this moment as the moment where the specter of a nuclear armed Iran ended,” she predicted.

Leavitt said that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner offered Iranian negotiators last Thursday a “generous” path toward peaceful nuclear energy, but were rebuffed.

“US negotiators offered to lift crippling sanctions on Iran and even provide nuclear fuel to Iran at no cost to support a civil nuclear power program,” she said.

“They additionally had the opportunity to accept US support as an investor in potential projects to develop peaceful nuclear energy together under a mutually agreed upon framework. Yet in response, Iran would have to forfeit their enrichment capacity once and for all. But Iran rejected — they accepted none of these generous and unprecedented offers by the United States. Simply put, they refused to say yes to peace.”

Leavitt confirmed that the timing of the strike was inspired by a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Trump last Monday in which he said there would be an opportunity to assassinate Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

“I think it was important with respect to the timeline. But I think the president, prior to that phone call, had a good feeling that the Iranian regime was going to strike United States assets and our personnel in the region,” she said.

“As for where the Ayatollah was going to be, that obviously had an impact on the timeline of the operation, but not quite the president’s decision in its entirety.”