Before December 2025, the most brutal callout Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had to weather came from his own mother . He has since added a children's publisher to that list. As the secretary faced increasing scrutiny for the alleged drug boat strikes he authorized in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in September 2025, he took to X to pour oil on the fire.

Hegseth posted a snap of the famous children's book character Franklin the Turtle shooting at boats with a smile on his face. He captioned the post , "For your Christmas wish list." The post would have been in bad taste on any day, but it was especially controversial given a November 2025 report by The Washington Post indicating that Hegseth gave orders to kill survivors during one of the September boat strikes, somethi

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