Pete Hegseth’s Very Weird Couple of Days; the Trump Administration Pressures Countries to Prioritize ‘Trade Over Aid’–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: April 16, 2026

Indy Digest: April 16, 2026

Can we talk about Pete Hegseth for a moment?

Here are a few news pieces about him that were published today alone: First up: a New York Times piece (gift link). Note, especially, the final paragraph here:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday renewed his threat to attack Iran’s electrical infrastructure if the cease-fire between Washington and Tehran failed.

“Our forces are maximally postured to restart combat operations should this new Iranian regime choose poorly and not agree to a deal,” Mr. Hegseth said during a briefing to reporters at the Pentagon. “We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation and on your energy industry.”

“We’d rather not have to do it,” he added, “but we’re ready to go at the command of our president and at the push of a button.”

Under international law, intentionally targeting a country’s energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

Sigh.

Next, here’s a piece from The Hill:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday complained about an “endless stream of garbage” from the media in its coverage of the Iran war, comparing the Pentagon press corps to the Pharisees, the biblical Jewish group that often clashed with Jesus.

“As I just can’t help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage you cannot resist peddling, despite the historic and important success of this effort and the success of our troops,” Hegseth said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.”

He also compared journalists to the Pharisees, saying he drew inspiration from a sermon in church on Sunday that relayed a biblical passage depicting Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath Day, which the Pharisees came to watch.

“The Pharisees—the so-called and self-appointed elites of their time—they were there to witness, to write everything down, to report,” the Defense chief continued. “But … even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn’t matter. They were only there to explain away the goodness in pursuit of their agenda.”

He added that reporters “are just like these Pharisees,” as “politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors.”

Finally, here’s a piece from The Hollywood Reporter:

Pete Hegseth—always ready to get medieval on someone’s ass—quoted a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction while leading a prayer service at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The Secretary of War cited an iconic and not-actually-biblical monologue from Quentin Tarantino’s beloved 1994 film. It’s the speech given by fearsome hitman Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) to his victims right before he murders them.

Hegseth sets up the quote by saying it was a prayer recited by Sandy 1—one of the US Air Force Combat Search and Rescue teams involved in the rather extraordinary rescue of a U.S. Air Force airman who was trapped behind enemy lines in Iran earlier this month.

“They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” Hegseth told his audience. “It reads—and pray with me please—‘the path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother, and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.’”

There’s a lot to unpack here. In just the last two days, the secretary of defense war has:

• Threatened to commit war crimes (something he’s done before).

• Accused reporters of being Pharisee-like traitors who are against the United States (the First Amendment be damned).

• Invoked a Pulp Fiction (!) speech at a Pentagon prayer service (?!), possibly confusing the words of the Bible and the words of Samuel L. Jackson in the process.

And now, as reported by CBS News:

House Democrats unveiled articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, making serious allegations about his handling of the war in Iran and his leadership more broadly.

The resolution, led by Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, lists six impeachment articles:

• Unauthorized war against Iran and reckless endangerment of U.S. service members;

• Violations of the law of armed conflict and targeting of civilians;

• Negligence and reckless handling of sensitive military information;

• Obstruction of congressional oversight;

• Abuse of power and politicization of the armed forces;

• Conduct bringing disrepute upon the U.S. and its armed forces. …

The seven-page impeachment resolution claims Hegseth engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors, the constitutional basis for impeachment. It says he has “demonstrated a willful disregard for the Constitution, abused the powers of his office, and acted in a manner grossly incompatible with the rule of law.”

There’s no chance this impeachment attempt will get any traction, at least not before the midterm elections—even though there’s ample evidence, with more coming almost every day, that it should.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Donald Trump and the pope, as you’ve likely heard, are in the middle of a “disagreement” about the military actions in Iran, and war in general—and the president is making false claims as part of his argument. Yahoo! News says: “President Trump insisted on Thursday that he is not ‘fighting’ with Pope Leo while falsely claiming that the first U.S.-born pontiff had stated that Iran should be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. ‘I have nothing against the pope,’ Trump said when asked by reporters about their ongoing rift over the Iran war. ‘I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement, he says Iran can have a nuclear weapon … And I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.’ The pope has not stated that Iran should have nuclear weapons and has a history of speaking out against them. Leo, who has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Iran war, has urged leaders to use dialogue to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict, now in its seventh week. Speaking in Cameroon Thursday as part of his 11-day tour of Africa, the pope sharply criticized those who use religion to justify military actions.”

• The Trump administration is pushing other countries to sign a declaration emphasizing “trade over aid.” The Washington Post reports: “In a cable sent Wednesday to all U.S. embassies and consular posts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered American diplomats to issue a démarche—an official call to action—to foreign governments no later than Monday that asks for their backing before the U.S. initiative is introduced at the United Nations at the end of April. The ‘trade over aid’ push is an opportunity, Rubio’s directive says, to use the U.N. system to ‘promote America First values and create business opportunities for U.S. companies.’ The Washington Post reviewed a copy of his cable, which has not previously been reported. The move comes as the Trump administration has sought to dramatically remake the global aid system, dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and pulling back funding from multilateral efforts at the United Nations, arguing that such initiatives have led to waste, fraud and dependency. Other major donors of foreign assistance, including France, Germany and Britain, have followed the Trump administration’s lead and scaled back their efforts, leading to what some have called a ‘great aid recession.’ Studies have suggested that such a sweeping rollback of funding could result in 9.4 million deaths by 2030.”

• Paramount Skydance, trying to close its deal to acquire Warner Bros., is spending big and using CBS News to kiss up to the president. Variety says: “David Ellison, whose Paramount Skydance is awaiting closure of its massive deal to swallow up Warner Bros. Discovery, will host an invitation-only dinner next week ‘honoring’ President Donald Trump and CBS News’ White House correspondents, Variety has confirmed. The event will take place in Washington, D.C., on April 23, two days before the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, April 25. The Ellison-hosted function will be held at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, which the State Department in December 2025 announced was being renamed ‘The Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.’ … According to an earlier report by Breaker, CBS News invited Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as its guests to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Trump has said he will attend the event for the first time as president; the festivities are to be hosted by magician, author and ‘mentalist’ Oz Pearlman.” Ugh.

• Could some parts of the world run out of jet fuel as a result of the mess in the Middle East? The Associated Press reports: “Europe has ‘maybe six weeks or so’ of remaining jet fuel supplies, the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging interview, warning of possible flight cancellations ‘soon’ if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called ‘the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,’ stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. … The impact will be ‘higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,’ said Birol, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.”

• The Guardian looks at the “uncharted territory” in which the U.S. finds itself regarding vaccines: “Access to existing vaccines—and the future development of new vaccines—has been increasingly called into question under the second Trump administration, as the now-halted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) made controversial recommendations and health officials made unilateral changes to routine vaccines, with long-term and global implications. Recommendations for the current annual flu and COVID shots no longer exist, and the recommendation for a new shot to protect babies against RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is also on hold. It’s not clear if new shots will be recommended in coming months, even in anticipation of respiratory virus spikes. ‘We could see delays in updates of vaccines,’ said Jen Kates, senior vice-president and director of the Global and Public Health Policy Program at KFF, a health policy nonprofit. ‘We’re going into some pretty uncharted territory.’ … America’s vaccines landscape has been thrown into greater tumult after a judge essentially overturned all decisions made by the vaccine advisers, who were hand-picked by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a longtime vaccine opponent.”

• A jury has ruled that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have a monopoly when it comes to larger venues—but don’t expect any changes to happen right away. The AP reports: “The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by dozens of states, won’t immediately bring relief for concertgoers who have long complained about high ticket prices. But it could cost Live Nation hundreds of millions of dollars and perhaps force the company to sell some of its concert venues when the judge hands out penalties later. Among other things, the jury found Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive practices led to people in 22 states paying an extra $1.72 per ticket, which the judge could order the companies to pay back. A jury in New York deliberated for four days before reaching its decision. State attorneys general who sued Live Nation said the verdict could potentially lead to lower ticket prices for music fans.”

• And finally … a couple of pharmacists, writing for The Conversation, point out that there are myriad companies selling weight-loss drugs online—and people who order them need to make sure they’re safe: “Many of the GLP-1 drugs advertised on the internet are not the FDA-approved medications but rather ‘compounded’ GLP-1 products made in compounding pharmacies. They contain the same active ingredient—semaglutide, tirzepatide or orforglipron—but add minor but clinically important modifications such as using a different salt form, adding different inactive ingredients and varying drug concentrations or dosages. In addition, they may be often produced and stored under inconsistent quality standards. Compounding pharmacies are intended to create personalized versions of FDA-approved medications to meet unique patient needs that cannot be met through the mass-produced brand-name medications. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the modifications being made to GLP-1 medications sold by compounding pharmacies meet those criteria. Instead, companies are using compounding pharmacies to bypass the FDA-approved manufacturers and generate profit. In February 2026, the FDA released a report alerting patients and providers about the risks of compounded GLP-1 medications.”

Support the Independent!

Thanks for reading. Reprinting press releases is easy. Doing reporting, editing, fact-checking, etc. is not. Well, at the Independent, we do reporting, editing, fact-checking, etc. Help us out, if you can, by clicking the button below and becoming a Supporter of the Independent.