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Hegseth unleashes on Massie in GOP primary showdown against Trump-backed Navy SEAL vet
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HEBRON, KY – Ed Gallrein, the Republican congressional candidate backed by President Donald Trump who is challenging Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky for the GOP nomination, landed extra firepower on the eve of the state’s primary.
Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and Kentucky farmer, was joined on the campaign trail Monday by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Massie has long been one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics in Congress and the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, in the north-central part of the state, the latest test of Trump’s immense grip over the GOP.
«President Trump needs reinforcements, and that’s what war fighters do. They stand behind leaders and have their back,» Hegseth said at an event organized by America First Works, a Trump-aligned nonprofit political advocacy group.
TRUMP SCORES MAJOR PRIMARY VICTORY AS CASSIDY OUSTED IN LOUSIANA
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, joins former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, at an event on the eve of Kentucky’s primary, in Hebron, Kentucky on May 18, 2026. Gallrein is backed by President Donald Trump as he primary challenges Rep. Thomas Massie for the GOP nomination in the state’s fourth congressional district. (Jessica Sonkin/Fox News)
Massie, a libertarian-minded lawmaker who repeatedly takes aim at the president over foreign policy, including the Iran war and unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, also successfully pushed for the release of government files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But Hegseth argued that Massie’s record is one of «too much grandstanding, too few great votes, years of acting like being difficult is the same thing as being courageous. It’s not. Real courage means stepping up when the mission matters most, when we need that tough vote to beat left-wing lunatic Democrats the most.»
«President Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party. He needs people willing to help him win, to vote with him when it matters the most,» Hegseth added.
Hegseth’s remarks, which came soon after a stop at nearby Fort Campbell to award medals for service members, were rare for the civilian head of the nation’s military. Defense secretaries have traditionally avoided appearing at political events.
Ahead of the stop, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth would appear only «in his personal capacity» and that «no taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit.»
Hegseth noted the unusual appearance.
«I have to say up front, for the lawyers, that I’m here in my personal capacity as a private citizen, a fellow American, and a fellow combat veteran.»
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But Massie, who’s locked in a competitive clash with Gallrein in what’s become the most expensive congressional primary in history, claimed in a Fox News Digital interview on Monday that Hegseth’s stop «shows that I’m up in the polls. They wouldn’t be sending the Secretary of War to my congressional district if I weren’t.»
«I think it also shows I’m tougher than Iran, and I don’t even have a nuclear weapon. I mean, they are all in at this race. It’s basically a national race at this point, the most expensive race primary in congressional history, and that’s because, you know, I’m up there, I’m getting things done. I got the Epstein files released, I’m getting legislation in the farm bill, I’m getting legislation passed on the floor, and they want to shut me down,» Massie emphasized.
Gallrein, speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of his event with Hegseth, charged that Massie’s «running against President Trump, and the agenda that has been put forward by the Republican Party.»
Kentucky’s primary is being held two weeks after Indiana’s primary, where Trump-backed challengers ousted five sitting Republican state senators who last December teamed up with Democrats to defeat the president’s push for congressional redistricting in the GOP-dominated Midwestern state.
And the ballot box showdown in Kentucky comes three days after Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was ousted as he sought renomination. The senator came in third in the primary, behind Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and conservative Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming.
Cassidy’s political defeat came five and a half years after he voted to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters who aimed to upend congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.
Massie said he «absolutely can» overcome the Trump endorsement of Gallrein. «I’ve got the groundswell here, like my events. I’ve got 100-200 sometimes 300 people show up. My opponent had to cancel events because he couldn’t get enough people, you know, to fill up a Dairy Queen, half a Dairy Queen.»
SCOOP: TRUMP-BACKED FORMER NAVY SEAL LAUNCHES GOP PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST MASSIE
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky campaigns on the eve of his state’s primary, in Mason County, Kentucky on May 18, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The race has become the most expensive in House history in terms of ad spending, with over $32 million shelled out, according to the nationally known ad tracking firm AdImpact.
Much of that money has been shelled out by Trump’s allies and pro-Israel groups.
«Here’s the thing, I’ve got nothing against Israel. I just have never voted for foreign aid. When I said America First, I meant it. I don’t vote for foreign aid to Egypt, to Syria, to Ukraine. I’ve got a flawless record on this, and I’m not going to ruin it by sending foreign aid to one country,» Massie said as he defended his stance on Israel.
And Massie touted that while Trump’s allies and pro-Israel groups have spent tens of millions to take him out, he said, «I’ve got tens of thousands of grassroots donors who are funding me $50 at a time, $20 at a time. We’ve been able to match them to go toe to toe with them on TV using grassroots donors, and it’s really galvanized the nation.»
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U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) leaves to speak with the media after the House voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act and the release of documents and files at the U.S. Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
Trump has repeatedly targeted Massie in social media posts in the closing days of the primary campaign.
The president said in a video posted to Truth Social on Monday that he hoped Kentucky voters would put Massie «out of business» and that «we’re in a fight against the worst congressman in the history of our country.»
And Trump praised Gallrein as «a great guy» and «a great patriot.»
But Massie said Trump’s taunts on social media may backfire.
«It shows he’s losing sleep, his reputation is on the line. He really shouldn’t have got involved in this race, because I vote with him 90% of the time,» the congressman said.
pete hegseth, donald trump, primary results, republicans, elections, house of representatives, kentucky
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Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida stated in a Monday social media post that «After Cuba, Nicaragua is next.»
The Central American nation’s president, Daniel Ortega, said on Sunday, «There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,» according to Reuters. «The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over – never again,» he said, according to the outlet.
In her Monday post on X, Salazar said, «Daniel Ortega just announced that Nicaragua will no longer hold elections. When a communist dictator knows the people would vote him out, he takes away their vote. Repression, fear, and force become the only way to stay in power. The Ortega-Murillo regime has declared war on the Nicaraguan people’s right to choose their own future.»
Ortega’s wife Rosario Murillo is co-president, reports indicate.
«The United States must stand unequivocally with the people of Nicaragua, increase the pressure on this despicable regime, and ensure that those responsible for its crimes are held accountable. After Cuba, Nicaragua is next,» Salazar added in the post.
NICARAGUA’S ORTEGA SAYS COUNTRY WILL ‘NEVER AGAIN’ HOLD ELECTIONS, SHUTTING OUT OPPOSITION
Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., leaves a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on developments regarding Cuba including the indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The U.S. snatched Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of Venezuela and transported them back to the U.S. earlier this year.
The U.S. later launched a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran in conjunction with Israel.
And then during a speech in March, U.S. President Donald Trump said «Cuba’s next.»
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Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s president, during the 23rd States of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) Summit at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Salazar’s office on Tuesday to ask more about her comment suggesting that «After Cuba, Nicaragua is next.»
The congresswoman said in a Tuesday post on X, «One by one, the dictators of the last era are answering for their crimes. Maduro sleeps in a cell in New York. The Ayatollah is dead. Raúl Castro is under indictment. Daniel Ortega, whose regime killed more than 300 peaceful protesters in 2018, jailed opposition candidates before elections, exiled priests, stripped hundreds of Nicaraguans of their citizenship, and has now abolished elections altogether, still sits in Managua. Communist dictators don’t fear losing elections. They fear having them. His day will come.»
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Tuesday statement, «Daniel Ortega’s declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio greets Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi ahead of their bilateral meeting at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., United States, on July 14, 2026. (Mehmet Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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«The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections. The United States calls on the international community to join forces to demonstrate to the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere,» Rubio asserted.
politics, central america, republicans, world, donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
Gustavo Petro se despide del poder en Colombia con llamado a una huelga general contra Abelardo De la Espriella
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EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to waive prior nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) for former government employees and contractors cooperating with unidentified anomalous phenomena investigations, Fox News Digital has learned.
«President Trump recently directed the Department of War and the intelligence community to allow former government employees or contractors, that have relevant information about the disclosure of UAP, to come forward to meet with designated government representatives — AARO or the President’s UAP taskforce, ‘PURSUE’ — and have their prior NDAs abrogated,» a senior administration official said, with AARO referring to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the Pentagon office established to investigate UFOs and other unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
Another senior administration official emphasized the move was not a «declassification directive» and only allowed employees to come forward through government channels.
Officials say years of congressional inquiries, whistleblower allegations and newly declassified records have raised questions about whether additional witnesses have remained silent because they believed prior nondisclosure agreements prevented them from cooperating with government investigations.
Newly released infrared footage from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command shows an object officials described as resembling a six-pointed star over the Yellow Sea Jan. 1, 2025. (Department of War )
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FBI rendering of witness account of «orbs launching orbs» is pictured above (Department of War)
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«People who believe that they have information have expressed reluctance in coming forward,» the official said. «We are eliminating that source of reluctance.»
Like other government employees and defense contractors with access to classified information or sensitive national security programs, many witnesses would have signed nondisclosure agreements as a condition of receiving security clearances or access to restricted information. Those agreements generally prohibit unauthorized disclosure of classified or otherwise protected information and typically remain in effect even after an individual leaves government service.
Former officials and contractors who disclose protected information without authorization risk losing security clearances, facing civil penalties or, in some circumstances, criminal prosecution if classified information is improperly disclosed.
Under the new process, former government employees and contractors who believe they possess relevant UAP information would first meet with designated officials at the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) or the president’s UAP task force, PURSUE, who hold the appropriate security clearances. During those authorized discussions, any applicable nondisclosure agreements could be waived, allowing witnesses to share information without fear of violating prior agreements.
Information provided through the process would be reviewed through the administration’s existing declassification procedures.
«Any information that is received that sheds light on the UAP mystery will ultimately be made public,» the official said.
A screenshot of video footage from an alleged unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) sighting in the northeastern United States in July 2025, which was detailed in files released by the DOW and originally obtained by the FBI. (DOW/FBI)
The official said the administration does not know whether potential witnesses actually possess significant new information, but wants to remove any perceived legal barriers so investigators can determine whether previously undisclosed information exists.
«You don’t know what you don’t know,» the official said.
The official said the focus is on incidents that remain unexplained, rather than known foreign technology, classified U.S. programs or natural phenomena.
The latest directive builds on the Trump administration’s broader effort to declassify decades of government records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena. Previous releases have included FBI and Pentagon records describing unexplained sightings reported by military personnel, law enforcement and astronauts, including accounts of glowing «mother orbs» that witnesses said released smaller objects near a sensitive U.S. national security site, mysterious orange spheres observed during military operations, and Apollo-era transcripts in which astronauts described unexplained lights and «jagged, angular fragments» drifting outside their spacecraft.
The latest tranche of UAP records included expanded details and imagery from a 2015 incident involving an unidentified object over the Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Texas, along with newly declassified infrared footage showing a mysterious six-pointed star-shaped object tracked by a U.S. military sensor over the Yellow Sea on Jan. 1, 2025.
The official said the next tranche of files will be made available «very soon.»
The directive follows years of complaints from some lawmakers and whistleblowers that former officials with firsthand knowledge were reluctant to come forward because of secrecy obligations.
An artist’s rendering released by the U.S. Department of War depicting a 2023 sighting of «orbs launching other orbs» near a national security site in the western United States. (Department of War)
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in 2023 that multiple individuals with firsthand knowledge had approached the committee but were hesitant to speak publicly because of potential repercussions.
«Some of these people still work in the government and frankly, a lot of them are very fearful — fearful of their jobs, fearful of their clearances, fearful of their career, and some, frankly, are fearful of harm coming to them,» he said on News Nation in June 2023.
«Grant immunity to anyone who has already come forward, and everyone who will come forward. Open the door and let them speak,» Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., demanded during a June 9 press conference on Capitol Hill.
Public interest in UAPs accelerated in 2017 after The New York Times revealed the Pentagon had quietly operated a secret program to investigate unexplained aerial encounters and published Navy cockpit videos showing objects exhibiting unusual flight characteristics.
Since then, Congress has held multiple bipartisan hearings on the issue, lawmakers have pressed intelligence agencies for greater transparency and former intelligence officer David Grusch’s allegations that the government had concealed information about UAP programs renewed calls for additional disclosure, despite the government’s denial of his central claims.
During the same event, former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch renewed his allegations that secret UAP programs had operated outside normal congressional oversight, calling it «a real fraud, waste and abuse issue» and claiming his investigation uncovered «slush funds to the tune of billions of dollars per annum for these activities.»
The Pentagon has disputed Grusch’s central claims, and AARO has said its investigations found no verified evidence of extraterrestrial technology or credible evidence that the government has secretly recovered or reverse-engineered craft of non-human origin.
ufos, investigations, donald trump
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