Trump administration live updates: Hegseth goes to war with new enemy at Cabinet meeting – UK Times

“We are here to win, and we’re full speed ahead,” Hegseth said of the war in Iran. “The Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs.”

He added that the Iranian government is “privately admitting very heavy losses.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chastised members of the media over their coverage over the Iran war, saying they have Trump derangement syndrome in their “DNA.”

President Trump indicated that former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who is awaiting trial in New York City, could face additional charges.

“He emptied his prison into our country and was a major purveyor of drugs coming into our country,” the president said of the deposed South American leader. “I would imagine there are other trials coming; they really sued him just on a fraction of the things he’s done…Other cases are gonna be brought.”

Trump addressed the ongoing war in Iran, which has now dragged on for more than three weeks.

“We’re crushing their missiles and drone stock piles…we’ve wiped out their navy completely, their air force completely,” the president said.

“They are begging to make a deal, not me,” he said, describing the Iranian leaders as “sinister, sick people.”

“Democrats are really punishing the American people,” Trump said while starting the Cabinet meeting. “They’re actually angry at [Chuck] Schumer, I didn’t think anyone knew his name.”

“We’re not gonna let the Democrats get away with this,” he added, referring to the DHS shutdown. “They need to end the shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures.”

President Trump’s Cabinet meeting was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today. More than 30 minutes later, it has yet to start.

A poll released over the weekend found that Americans are intensely divided over the DHS shutdown.

When asked by CBS News about Democrats’ positions on ICE and DHS funding, 36 percent of respondents said these are not worth having a partial shutdown over, while 31 percent said they are worth a shutdown.

An additional 33 percent said they weren’t sure.

Ahead of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, President Trump said that he expects Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to make a deal to fund DHS.

“Chuck Schumer, a desperate, crippled politician, who has lost control of the Radical Left Democrats, will make a deal now because he thinks that if he doesn’t, Republicans will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, something which they should do whether he makes a deal or not,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning.

President Donald Trump is set to convene a Cabinet meeting this morning as the DHS shutdown continues to drag on, leading to long lines and missed flights at airports across the nation.

The meeting, which will be open to the press, is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday.