On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to blow Iran “off the face of the Earth” if it attacks a U.S. ship.

And since Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has sounded—and looked—like MAGA’s ideal warfighter since Trump unleashed the dogs of war two months ago, it seemed certain that he would be equally combative at the 8 a.m. Tuesday Pentagon press briefing.

But the Hegseth who had previously declared there would be “no quarter, no mercy” for the Iranians instead announced that the U.S. was launching a new initiative called “Project Freedom” to establish a “red, white, and blue dome” to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. “American forces won’t need to enter Iranian waters or airspace,” Hegseth said.

“It’s not necessary,” he explained. “We’re not looking for a fight.”

“The ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth declared—even though the firing has not ceased. He did not seem too bothered by the fact that Iran had launched missiles and drones and dispatched fast boats, which the U.S. promptly sank. He repeated that the U.S. was committed to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, but used a word few would even expect to be in his........

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