14 dead in more strikes against alleged drug boats, Hegseth says
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers remarks as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an announcement on his Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday, killing 14 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, where he posted a video of the strikes.
The latest action brings the total number of people believed to have been killed to more than 50.
According to Hegseth, there was one survivor from Monday’s round of strikes.
“Regarding the survivor, USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” he wrote on X.
The strikes are part of what the administration has called its “war” against drug cartels. The U.S. military has now hit 10 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The use of lethal force, however, has raised several legal questions.
In addition to the strikes, the U.S. last week ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its accompanying aircraft to the waters around Central and South America — a move designed to ratchet up pressure against the Venezuelan government.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Alex Jones speaks to protestors gathered outside the Texas State Capitol during a rally calling for the reopening of Austin and Texas on April 25, 2020 in Austin, Texas (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal from conservative commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has been ordered to pay $1.4 billion in damages to the families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The court did not explain the denial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — As the government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday addressed an auditorium packed with several hundred of the nation’s most seasoned military commanders summoned last-minute from around the world.
The event occurred at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, a secure site an hour south of the nation’s capital. Hegseth kicked off the event with an extraordinarily blunt speech on the importance of the “warrior ethos,” a term he uses to describe the spirit that makes combat units effective.
“We must be prepared,” he said. “Either we’re ready to win or we are not.”
“This speech today is about people and it’s about culture,” he said, calling for “the right culture at the War Department.”
He acknowledged why he fired Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and other senior leaders.
Hegseth said his rationale “has been straightforward,” contending it’s hard to change a culture with people who benefited from that previous culture.
He demanded no more “fat generals,” saying all service members would need to meet fitness tests and grooming standards.
“No more beardos,” he said. “The era of unacceptable appearance is over.”
Brown never pushed “quotas” for promotions within the military, which relies on a merit-based system that Hegseth claimed wrongfully punished too many people for “toxic leadership.” Brown and others pushed the idea of recruiting from a broader section of America so that the military would look more like the nation it serves.
The secretary added that the department is “clearing the way for leaders to be leaders.”
“You might say we are ending the war on warriors,” Hegseth said.
He told his audience that if all the new standards he has unveiled makes their “hearts sink,” then they should resign.
As expected, Hegseth, who now goes by the title “secretary of war,” pressed hard, as part of the broader rebranding ordered by Trump, the importance of enforcing combat standards that keep troops lethal.
Trump followed Hegseth with his own speech, echoing Hegseth’s statements. He said as president, he would have their backs and that he is committed to making the military stronger, faster and fiercer “than ever before.”
The president went on a long-winded speech talking about several topics, including his claims that he has ended more foreign conflicts than previous presidents.
Trump also took shots at his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and his handling of the United States troops’ from Afghanistan, calling it “was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”
The president also took credit for the rise in military enlistments.
Last week, general and flag officers at the one-star level and above were told to fly to Quantico from their duty stations with just several days’ notice and no hint as to what the meeting might be about. The Pentagon declined to comment on the meeting, and speculation quickly spread that the meeting might have to do with urgent cuts to the military force or the national defense strategy, which would set new priorities for the second Trump administration and could change how troops train and equip themselves.
In the end, though, sources said the meeting appeared — at least as of now — to be more of a “rally the troops” speech similar to what Hegseth frequently gives in public venues and in Fox News interviews. But his remarks, which will be livestreamed to the public, will also provide a prime photo opportunity with Hegseth addressing hundreds of top military generals as their boss.
On Sunday, the program was given an unexpected jolt when the White House announced Trump would join Hegseth at Quantico. The White House has not said when or how the president learned of Hegseth’s meeting or why he wanted to participate. Aides also haven’t said what Trump’s remarks will focus on.
The Defense Department, which now coined by Trump and Hegseth as the “Department of War,” has not said how much it will cost to fly in so many people last minute, although it is widely expected to cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s also not clear exactly how many people were invited. Overall, there are 838 total general officers and admirals on active duty — 446 of them are from the higher two-star, three-star and four-star ranks — according to the Pentagon’s latest statistics from June.
The event comes as the government is careening toward a potential shutdown that could force some 2 million troops to work without pay if a spending bill doesn’t pass Congress by midnight Wednesday.
Most military personnel are on track to be paid Oct. 1, officials said Monday. But after that, troops would be at the mercy of negotiations on Capitol Hill, which remain at a stalemate.
According to a contingency plan posted by the Pentagon this weekend, all active-duty troops would be required to keep working. The plan says contracts can move forward, too, but under increased scrutiny with priority given to efforts to secure the U.S. southern border and build Trump’s U.S. missile shield known as “Golden Dome,” as well as operations in the Middle East and shipbuilding.
There had been speculation that the commanders traveling from around the world to hear Trump and Hegseth speak on Tuesday could get stuck away from their assigned work locations if the government shuts down that night. But according to government guidance, personnel must return home as soon as possible if a shutdown occurs while on work travel. Any travel costs incurred after the shutdown are reimbursable once spending resumes.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel provided an update on the Trump administration’s progress in reducing violent crime. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced a deal on Thursday between his administration and pharmaceutical company EMD Serono to reduce the cost of some fertility medications.
Senior administration officials have said this deal will help millions of American women struggling to conceive with their ability to afford the expensive treatment.
Trump pledged to expand IVF access for Americans struggling to start families — making it a point of his presidential campaign. In February, he signed an executive order looking into how to lower costs and reduce barriers to IVF.
This deal “delivers on the president’s pledge,” an official said.
“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for couples to have babies, raise children and start the families they’ve always dreamed out,” Trump said during an announcement from the Oval Office.
Trump said EMD Serono, the largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world, has agreed to provide discounts for the cost of fertility drugs the company sells in the U.S., including its most popular, Gonal-f, which treats infertility in women and men.
Officials told ABC News a fertility drug typically costs between $5,000 and $6,000 per cycle, the officials said, and only about 30% of families have access to some sort of employer-based coverage.
Trump said EMD Serono will list its fertility drugs online at “very, very heavily reduced prices.”
“We’re pleased to announce that, depending on the patient’s income, the cost of drugs for a standard IVF cycle of infertility will decrease somewhere between 42 and 79% for families,” an official said, and “based on the results of this negotiation.”
The official said those drugs will be available in early 2026.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated the cost for a single cycle of IVF can range from $15,000 to $20,000, and can surpass $30,000 if a donor egg is involved.
The average number of cycles needed to become pregnant from IVF is 2.5, meaning the average cost of IVF to conceive successfully can exceed $40,000, according to the HHS.
In May, Trump signed an executive order to pressure companies to only charge U.S. patients the same rate as they charge in other countries, an effort called “most favored nation” pricing.
This kicked off a monthslong campaign to pressure pharmaceutical companies to drop their prices voluntarily, without regulation.
The White House also said that the two specialty pharmacies that account for more than 80% of the distribution of the drug — CVS Specialty Pharmacy and Express Scripts Freedom Fertility Pharmacy — told the administration they would “materially reduce their expenses associated with the handling of this drug, while still ensuring access to all families who wish to use it.”
