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How Can Anyone Trust This Crew With Anything?

17 0
23.07.2026

How Can Anyone Trust This Crew With Anything?

By Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens

Mr. Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer; Mr. Stephens is an Opinion columnist.

Frank Bruni: Bret, our unctuous and unctuously coiffed defense secretary just strutted over to Congress and requested something like five gazillion dollars so that we can win a war that President Trump repeatedly assured us we’d already won. Please tell me that even a hawk like you doesn’t want to give Pete Hegseth that kind of blank check.

Bret Stephens: First of all, I love the word unctuous; it reminds me of Mr. Collins in “Pride and Prejudice.” When it comes to Hegseth, other words that come to mind are oleaginous, turgescent, bombastic and insufferable. Second, in terms of funding, I’d give him even more than he asked for.

Frank: You must be kidding. You’re setting up a punchline, right? Hit me with it.

Bret: Totally serious. The Iran war has exposed........

© The New York Times