TMZ made its first-ever appearance at a Pentagon press briefing on Friday, and its first two questions definitely made an impression on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
After Hegseth spent much of the briefing griping about the lack of support the Iran war is getting from U.S. allies, he took a few questions from the media, including two from TMZ DC.
The first question came from TMZ DC co-managing editor Jacob Wasserman, who tried to get inside Hegseth’s brain and understand his thinking.
“I’ve heard you talk a lot about bombing people and places, and when you give these orders to carry out this extreme level of violence, what’s going through your mind and your body?” Wasserman asked. “Do you have, like, an adrenaline rush? Are you scared? Do you feel like you’re on a power trip?”
As you can see from the video below, Hegseth had a slight grin before noting, “It’s a very TMZ question.”
He then elaborated further: “My only thought process is to ensure that our warfighters have everything they need to be successful, defeat and destroy the enemy, and they come home.”
“I want them to feel empowered to have every authority they need within our rules and within our law to bring maximum violence to the enemy,” he added. “Because war is violent, war requires doing difficult things. But I want our people to feel empowered so it’s our guys that come home and their guys that do not.”
Hegseth then took a second question from the outlet, this time from co-managing editor Charlie Cotton.
“You changed the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Would you consider changing the name again to the Department of Peace, since that’s what we’re all after?” Cotton asked.
“It’s a great question, actually,” Hegseth admitted. “You go from defense to war because you want to be proactive about peace through strength.”
Hegseth added that “when you fight a war the right way, the idea is, on the other side, you bring about peace. That is what we would like to see the most.”
You can watch the exchange below.
TMZ: When you give these orders to carry out this extreme level of violence, what’s going through your mind and your body? Do you have, like, an adrenaline rush?
Hegseth: It’s a very TMZ question. pic.twitter.com/BmLyfuUpDo
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 24, 2026
TMZ has mostly focused on showbiz gossip since its beginnings in 2005, but the outlet added political coverage earlier this year.
Back in March, during a partial government shutdown, site founder Harvey Levin asked the public to send in pics of politicians vacationing while other federal employees continued to work without pay.
The request led to some bizarre scoops, such as when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was discovered at Walt Disney World carrying a bubble wand, but also some criticism, such as when it “exposed” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) for working as the timekeeper at his 12-year-old son’s basketball game.
Although many people were shocked to see TMZ at Hegseth’s press briefing, some on social media praised the questions its reporters asked.
What a SPECTACULAR question from @jacob_wass.
I’ve never seen the corporate media hacks even dream of having the courage to ask something like this, yet they continue to shove the fancy name of their organization in everybody’s faces while looking down their noses at TMZ & co. https://t.co/mzS781onYq
— Julian Andreone (@JulianAndreone) April 24, 2026
