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‘We will hunt you down’: Is Pete Hegseth for real?

It’s been a busy year for Donald Trump’s unconventional pick for secretary of war. Now, with the war in Iran, he’s firmly in the spotlight. Where did he come from? How is he performing so far?

  • Angus Holland and Madeleine Heffernan

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Donald Trump and Steve Bannon in the White House early in Trump’s first term.

‘He is running in 2028’: MAGA loyalist Steve Bannon on Trump’s long-term agenda

In an interview with this masthead, the MAGA loyalist pledged to drive a Mack truck through the 22nd Amendment – which prevents a person being elected president more than twice – to keep Donald Trump in power.

  • Michael Koziol
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Trump says US oversight of Venezuela could last years

But the US president appears to have backed down on a threat of military action against Colombia. Meanwhile, the Senate has delivered a rare pushback against him.

  • Patricia Zengerle
President Donald Trump adopted a nonplussed tone in the aftermath of the defeat – a contrast to his comments in the lead-up.

A bunch of deep red Republicans just stood up to Trump. Here’s why it matters

In Indiana, the state Senate roundly rejected a push to redraw the electoral map to benefit Donald Trump. In the end, despite the president’s threats, the vote wasn’t even close.

  • Michael Koziol
Small boat attacked by US in the Caribbean in September.

Hegseth said boat military destroyed was carrying drugs to the US. It was heading to Suriname

New details have emerged of the deadly repeat strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs targeted by the US military.

  • Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro
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Hegseth unleashes on press, says lethal double strike on boat occurred in ‘fog of war’

The US war secretary said he did not witness survivors of the first boat strike, but backed his admiral’s decision to fire on them again to “eliminate the threat”.

  • Michael Koziol
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US President Donald Trump talks up his investment deal with Saudi Arabia in the White House on Tuesday.

‘Punishable by death’: Trump accuses Democrats of sedition over video message to military

The US president accuses a group of Democrats of being traitors, after they urged the US military to refuse illegal orders.

  • Doina Chiacu and Nandita Bose
Democrat Representative Ro Khanna, left, and Republican Thomas Massie, during a news conference outside the US Capitol in Washington DC on Tuesday.

How a Republican and a Democrat forced Trump’s hand on Epstein

Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna’s months-long campaign for the release of the Epstein files started with a single text. It ended with 218 signatures.

  • Anna Liss-Roy
The Albanese government steers clear of upsetting those with assets.

There’s one fight Anthony Albanese always tries to avoid picking

Labor’s scars and its determination to become the natural party of government are having a peculiar impact.

  • Sean Kelly
Hanson and Mamdani.

Mamdani’s New York win is like One Nation’s surge here. Both offer false hope

Zohran Mamdani and Pauline Hanson are prospering on opposite sides of one of the most defining divides in modern politics: city versus country.

  • Waleed Aly