What A Day - Hegseth Takes His “Secretary of War” Title Too Seriously

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been under fire for his continually evolving explanations and blame-shifting regarding a September attack on an alleged “drug boat” in the Caribbean. Following a report from the Washington Post, the Associated Press found that the Pentagon was indeed aware that there were two survivors after the initial attack on the boat — and still carried out a follow-up strike. At the same time, the Trump administration has gone from denying a second strike ever happened to blaming the second strike on an admiral. Pressure on the Pentagon is building and Nevada Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen is among the many members of Congress calling for Hegseth to resign. We spoke with Senator Rosen about Hegseth’s failures and what she thinks needs to happen to protect America’s service members.And in headlines, President Donald Trump pardons a Democratic congressman indicted on white collar crimes, Republican infighting escalates in the House, and ICE targets Somali immigrants in Minneapolis.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Thursday, December 4th, I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today, the show that, like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsteth, would not let White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller watch its kids, or dog, or apartment, or can of Celsius, and actually, I'm trying to think of something I'd let Stephen Miller watch, and my answer is not appropriate for this episode. today's show. Convicted felon, President Donald Trump, pardons a democratic congressman indicted on white-collar crimes because game-recognized game. And hello silence, my old friend, no one is talking to House Speaker Mike Johnson again. But let's start with Secretary of Defense, I mean, war, Pete Higgsath. As we've mentioned before, Hegseth has been under fire for his continually evolving explanations of blame shifting regarding a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Following a report, from the Washington Post, the Associated Press found that the Pentagon was indeed aware that there

were two survivors after the initial attack on the boat, and still carried out a follow-up strike. At the same time, the Trump administration has gone from denying a second strike ever happened to blaming the second strike, which did happen on an admiral. And the boat? First, it was headed to Trinidad, or another Caribbean country, and then it was, quote, an immediate threat to the United States. Hmm. No wonder Republicans, like Nebraska Representative of Don Bacon and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul aren't having any of it. Here's Bacon speaking to CNN on Wednesday.

If what has been reported is true, someone is wrong. They should be held accountable. It doesn't sound good. And if somebody actually did this, they should be held accountable. And it should be at the top, not the bottom. And here's Paul speaking to reporters the same day.

In this sense, it looks to me like they're trying to pin the blame on somebody else and not them. Of course, President Trump is fine with the strikes because we're at war? Here he is in the Oval Office on Wednesday. If it is found that survivors were actually killed while clinging on to that boat, should Secretary Huggseth, Admiral Bradley,

or others be punished? I think you're going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people by the millions, actually, if you look over a few years. Yes, we're at war, with drugs. Again. And while tens of thousands of Americans

die from drug overdoses every year, the total number went down by 27% between 2023 and 2024. As for any survivors of those strikes... So to be clear, you support the decision to kill survivors after the... No, I support the decision to knock out the boats, and whoever is piloting those boats,

most of them are gone, but whoever are piloting those boats, they're guilty of trying to kill people in our country. Pressure on the Pentagon is building, though. And Nevada Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is among the many members of Congress calling for HegSeth to resign. I spoke with Senator Rosen about HegSeth's failures and what she thinks needs to happen to protect America's service members. Senator Rosen, welcome back to What a Day.

Well, thank you for having me. And like I said to you, and I'll say every time, not just what a day, what a week, what a year, huh? Indeed. To that point, you have called on Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth to, resigned following the Washington Post reporting from this weekend, which alleges that in September, Secretary Hick-Seth issued in order to, quote, kill everybody on board a boat suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Why do you think he needs to step down following this report? Well, how long do we have? I mean. I could start going through the list. We won't talk about

Signalgate. We'll save that for another. I haven't seen the classified report, but I believe we're going to see the inspector report on Signalgate, where he put our men and women in harm, potentially, would have endangered U.S. troops. Our men and women who serve honorably, he used a private cell phone, a personal cell phone. He's not supposed to do that. And so that gets us to what's happening in the Caribbean. He is, well, he's trying to flex his muscles. He loves to show those big pictures.

Everything about him is the show. I want the strike. I want the picture. He wants to start explosive nuclear testing so he can see the mushroom cloud go up. It's all about the visual for him. So here in the Senate, in the House, we have not seen any intelligence or justification for this. He is blowing up tiny little boats in the middle of the ocean. And in this case, two people, two people are hanging onto the edge of what appears in that picture to be just a little motorboat.

boat, 1,500 miles at least from the nearest shore, no threat to anyone. He says, kill them all. Well, it's a war crime on one side, but it's murder on the other. So either way, it's not good. And this is why he should resign because he doesn't have the demeanor, he doesn't have the character, he doesn't have the leadership skills, and he's throwing everyone under the bus. Every day his story changes.

And let me tell you, the last thing I know I'm going on and on because I'm just so pissed off about our men and women in universe. for him who serve every day and the families who wait for them to come home at night, that he dare put them in harm way for his own damn ego, he needs to resign. And last time I checked, when you're the boss, the buck stops at your desk. You can't throw an admiral, throw this one, throw that one. I didn't see it. I didn't know.

It's his goddamn job to know. The buck stops with him. He needs to resign. To that point, Navy Vice Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley, who ordered the second strike, as far as we know, it's scheduled to give a classified briefing to lawmakers this week. What are some of the main questions you hope he answers in that briefing? Well, I'm not going to be in that briefing. It's my understanding that the chairs and ranking member of the House Armed Services

and Senate Armed Services are in that briefing. I also believe the intelligence committees will be in that briefing. After that, I'm hoping that Ranking Member Reid and Chairman Wicker will, have the rest of us. I sit on Senate Armed Services. We'll have the rest of us in to discuss what they heard and what our next steps are after that, which I am hoping that we will. We have subpoena power that we will have a full investigation. I do believe that they have signaled that. We've been writing letters on that. And I think that you will see all four House and Senate, both, all four chair and ranking members are in agreement on doing that

investigation, which is really important. You have to get to the bottom of it. You want to see the visuals of the strike. You want to hear the transcripts. You want to see all supporting information in order to determine whatever the future course of action you take is. Now, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that their deadly strikes in the Caribbean are targeting narco terrorists, which isn't a thing, but okay, that's what they've said. But the family of one man from Colombia, who was killed a September 15th attack, is now claiming that there were. no drugs on his boat, and he was just a fisherman. Now, I think I kind of know the answer to this, but has the administration provided any

evidence to you or your fellow lawmakers to substantiate their allegations? Zero evidence to certainly us as Democrats. I can't speak if they've been providing anything to the Republicans, but what I can tell you that at least my colleagues on armed services are saying that they're getting nothing from the administration. And I just want to let your viewers know this, that only Congress can declare war. Again, we don't have a king. He doesn't get these special superpowers, no matter how much gold he puts in his office, no matter how much he thinks that you need to curtsy when you see him. He is not a king. Only Congress declares war. Congress has Article 1 power to do that. We do have a war on drugs. We do have drug problems. There are issues coming from many countries. And other countries share the same problems we have. This is where you work together, whether it's sanctions, precursor, chemicals. You come up with an action plan to do every single thing you can possibly do,

their allies and partners, diplomatically, financially, you name it, whatever way those things are in order to stop or prevent what's happening because he says he's going to strike Venezuela. You don't think those bullets come back the other way. And before you put one young man or woman in uniform, it risk for their life that blood's on your hands, you better damn well be sure. that you've exhausted every other avenue because the one thing I know that can't be replaced in life is somebody you love.

Yeah, especially because, you know, talking about Venezuela, we've heard claims that Venezuela is the font of fentanyl trafficking, which it isn't. And you also have the administration claiming to be going after drug trafficking in the Caribbean,

but President Trump just pardoned former Honduras president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced last year for his role in a massive drug trafficking operation. Can you imagine that if any prior president, cabinet member, senator, if you had us in any cabinet hearing and you watch the people sleeping like he is, all the crazy things he says all the time, all the ridiculous pardons that he's doing,

I bet if you ask him tomorrow about pardoning president of Honduras, he probably wouldn't even remember. And so he can't do this for drugs. And then suddenly, Sam, striking Venezuela, none of it makes any sense. This whole thing makes no sense. And I think it's just Pete Hexeth likes the idea that he's showing his real-life video game. I don't know what it is, but he is unqualified. He is unqualified.

And I don't think respected by our troops. I want to pivot to health care for a minute. Last month, you voted to reopen the government after Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised to vote by mid-December on extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. where do things currently stand with negotiations around health care costs since the Republicans have no plans on that matter and whether any legislation

that can actually pass we'll get to the floor this month well we do have and so for your listeners the one thing about the Senate the House as well is that the majority leader solely controls the votes on what comes to the floor

when we vote except for a few situations and so he did agree to give us the floor on the time and day we want on the bill that we want. We are going to put forth a clean extension. We will have that vote at the next few weeks. And so when we do a clean extension, then we'll put them on the record.

And let me tell you the reason we reopened the government because after 40 days it became clear to us in the chamber that they were trying to push the shutdown to January 1st when every window of an open enrollment closes like that. And no way out of it, they were using starving children with SNAP, tens of millions of families all across this country in Nevada, half a million, 40 percent children, all of this. Cruelty is a feature, not a bug for Donald Trump. The crueller he is, the happier he seems to be.

And so we didn't want to let them get to that January 1st when all hope would be lost. So we're going to put them on the record. And the other thing we got when we reopen the government is we passed part of our budget. What part of the budget did we pass? Well, we funded the entire Veterans Administration, number one. And we funded what they call the Ag Bill that has SNAP, it has WIC, it has head start, it has so many programs that our families rely on for food insecurity to help our young mothers, to help our kids get a head start in this world. And we can give you the list of all others. So we extracted something. We can shut down the government again in January 30th. We're going to

try to continue to pass our budgets, but we're going to hold their feet to the fire and show you who they are. Are they going to be like, well, Senator from Iowa who says we're all going to die anyway, or are they going to go home and listen to their constituents who are scared to death about losing their health care? We'll see which way they vote. Senator Rosen, thank you so much for joining me. Any day. What a day. I'll be on here any day, because every day seems to be, What a day, and I'm so glad you're doing this, and I'm happy to come on and talk about all of it with you. Thank you for being a voice for so many and letting us share our stories a little bit. That was my conversation with Senator Jackie Rosen.

We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by ORAFraims. We all want to give a gift that actually impresses, something you'll find them using and loving long after the wrapping paper is recycled. Well, ORAFraim is the hidden gem that will become the favorite gift.

You get unlimited free photos and video. Just download the ORA app and connect to Wi-Fi. And you can pre-load photos before it ships. Keep adding from anywhere, anytime. Don't wait. the holidays now with orrframes. For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting oraFramed.com to get $35 off ORA's best-selling cover mat frames, named number one by wirecutter by using promo code Wad at checkout. That's A-U-R-A-Frams.com promo code Wad. This deal is exclusive to listeners

and frames sell it fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Here's what else we're following today. We're officially terminating Joe Biden's ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually, cafe standards that imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems, gave all sorts of problems to automakers. President Trump announced more plans to reverse Biden-era policies from the Oval Office on Wednesday. Surrounded by executives from auto companies like Ford and Stalantis, Trump took the time to rail against fuel economy standards, the Biden administration implemented to, fight climate change. Today we're taking one more step to kill the green news scam. It's part of the greatest scam, probably well, other than Russia, Russia, Russia, and a few others I could name. The greatest scam in American history, the green news scam, and it's a quest to end the gasoline

powered car. He just talks like this all the time. All the time. So what's the amazing new plan then? The transportation department would significantly reduce those fuel economy requirements, like how miles per gallon vehicles must hit, which would in turn lower car prices, according to the Trump administration. But by loosening the MPG target, the proposal would allow companies to manufacture more gas guzzling, inefficient, and screw-you climate cars. A White House fact sheet says in part, quote, the Biden standards would have compelled widespread shifts to EVs that American consumers did not ask for. Bye-bye, electric vehicles. I can sense a new fight between Elon Musk and Trump brewing as we speak.

It's a hellhole right now, and the Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country, and all they do is complain, complain, complain. Trump complained, complained, complained on one day and another racist rant against Somali immigrants in Minneapolis. Conveniently timed since immigration and customs enforcement started an operation in the city the same day. The agency is primarily targeting Somali nationals in the Twin Cities with outstanding deportation orders, the way an anonymous official told the New York Times that people still navigating the legal process could also be detained.

Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walls responded by posting a Twitter, quote, We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, wrote in a statement, quote, What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally. Which she should probably tell Trump. Trump seems like news he could use. A concurrent operation also launched Wednesday in New Orleans.

A DHS official told the Associated Press that agents are seeking to arrest immigrants accused of violent crimes. The crackdown, codename... Operation Cataula Crunch aims to maximize arrest during a campaign expected to last at least 60 days, just in time to ruin everyone's holiday. Life is looking a little grim these days if you're a house-repeer. Republican. The first signs of smoke came after last months off-year elections. Then Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Green had a very public political breakup with Trump and announced she's resigning from Congress in early 2026. Did I mention that more than two dozen Republican

lawmakers have already called it quits for next term? And on Tuesday, Tennessee held a special House election that should have been a Republican layup, but ended up being a much tougher shot. Republican Matt Van Epps won his house race, but only by about nine points in a district Trump won by more than 20. That small margin is almost incomprehensible when you consider his challenger was the so-called AOC of Tennessee, Democratic State Representative Afton Bain. But that's not all. There's more infighting within House Republican ranks. New York representative, Elise Stefonic, went scorched earth on House Speaker Mike Johnson in a Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday. In it, Stefanik claims, quote,

Mike Johnson is a political novice and boy does it show, with the House Republicans underperforming for the first time in the Trump era. Apparently, 2018 was a different Trump era. In any case, 2026 should be fun for the grand old party. I want to thank President Trump for this. Actually, he took, be having my wife and my family. I want to say thank you. Texas Democratic congressman.

Henry Quayar responded to President Trump Wednesday after he announced on true social that he is pardoning Quayar and his wife, Amelda, before their trial could even begin. Apparently, Trump pardons Democrats, too. The Quayars were indicted last year on about a dozen bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy charges. Federal prosecutors said the couple took nearly $600,000 in bribes from two foreign companies. In exchange, Quayar allegedly agreed to use his seat in Congress to influence policy that would help his supposed benefactors. But Trump said that the Biden administration went after Quayar because he opposed its border policy. He wrote on True Social that Biden's government, quote, weaponized the justice system against their political opponents.

Sorry, I'm getting confused. Which administration is he talking about? Trump also spoke about his decision from the Oval Office on Wednesday. What happened is he got indicted for speaking the truth. And his wife got indicted, Imilda. And that's sort of a first use. Usually they leave the wives alone, right? Don't they, Congressmen? Typically, they indict somebody, put him in jail for the rest of his life, but the wife can just sit home and cry, or she'll find a new man, you know?

A lot of times they find a new man that makes them much happier. It's too bad, Melania. Never got a chance to find out. And that's the news. Before we go, Holiday season is basically here, which means we're all one burnt appetizer away from calling Ina Garten for help. Good news! Erin and Alyssa already did.

They're talking with the barefoot contessa about everything, her early days with her husband, her time in the White House, and the secrets to hosting without spiraling. The new hysteria episode drops today. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Check out your Spotify Rapt and let me know whether or not it tells you things about yourself you wish you didn't know and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading, and not just about how my Spotify Rapt indicates that I have spent a lot of this year just absolutely furious. Like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston. and for those of you who have spent thousands of minutes listening to Water Day, thank you. Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Emily Four and Chris Allport. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra.

Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had a production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Caitlin Plummer, Tyler Hill, and Ethan Oberman. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of News and Politics is Adrian Hill. We add help today from the Associated Press. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. Thank you.