President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth found themselves engulfed in a fresh wave of scrutiny on Monday after the White House unveiled a new explanation for the deadly September 2 strike — an explanation so implausible that even longtime observers were stunned.

But within hours, it was Hegseth who made the situation exponentially worse, posting what critics called a passive-aggressive attempt to shift blame just as a resurfaced 20-second clip exposed a contradiction he can’t easily walk away from.

The trouble began when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley — not Hegseth — had given the order for the second strike that killed two survivors floating in the water after their vessel was destroyed.

‘That’s the Cru

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