U.S. Representative Eugene Vindman (D-VA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Hegseth’s Friday press briefing on the Iran War.
As seen below, Hegseth said of the U.S. military action against Iran: “We will keep pressing, we will keep pushing, we will keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies. Yet some in this crew in the press just can’t stop.” Overtly expressing a desire to control the narrative, Hegseth then suggested that a headline that reads “Mideast War Intensifies” should instead read “Iran Increasingly Desperate.”
Addressing a story suggesting the Trump administration had been surprised by some post-attack developments, Hegseth also said: “More fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course.”
The Defense Secretary claimed that “this is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought to that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
(Note: Ellison, the billionaire son of Trump-supporting Oracle founder Larry Ellison, outdueled Netflix in his bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and will soon own CNN if the deal gets regulatory approval.)
Former Army JAG here. No quarter orders are a violation of the law of war and Geneva conventions.
This is the same order reportedly given during the Caribbean boat strikes. @SecWar is establishing a pattern of issuing illegal orders.
I’ve trained hundreds of soldiers on the… https://t.co/69YZlCRHSs
— Congressman Eugene Vindman (@RepVindman) March 13, 2026
Emphasizing Hegseth’s assertion that “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” will be given, Congressman Vindman, a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel and former deputy legal advisor for the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) during the first Trump administration, replied: “Former Army JAG here. No quarter orders are a violation of the law of war and Geneva conventions. This is the same order reportedly given during the Caribbean boat strikes. @SecWar is establishing a pattern of issuing illegal orders. I’ve trained hundreds of soldiers on the law of war — our service members have an obligation to follow that law.”
Note: According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), giving the order that “no quarter will be given” is prohibited by International Humanitarian Law, Rule 46, which reads: “Ordering that no quarter will be given, threatening an adversary therewith or conducting hostilities on this basis is prohibited.”