Overview

• He said district court rulings should not dictate troop deployments in U.S. cities and that only a Supreme Court decision would compel him to withdraw forces.
• When pressed on authorizing troops in Los Angeles to detain or arrest protesters, he declined a direct yes-or-no response, insisting that their mission to protect federal agents was public.
• He refused to confirm any orders for using lethal force against unarmed demonstrators, dismissing references to his predecessor’s memoir as speculative.
• He outlined that tanker and fighter aircraft have been repositioned to the Middle East to safeguard U.S. personnel and that the Pentagon is briefing President Trump on options for action in the Israel-Iran conflict.
• He defended the dismissal of NSA Director Timothy Haugh as a presidential prerogative and would not say if a far-right influencer influenced the decision or address concerns about anti-Semitism in the ranks.