Hegseth’s tantrum at UK defence secretary Dan Jarvis can’t stop US decline

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth threw a tantrum at his new UK counterpart Dan Jarvis over a supposed lack of cooperation in the war the US just lost with Iran. As well as this fake claim (the UK cooperated plenty), Hegseth blasted European partners for not doing his bidding during the illegal, unprovoked war.

Hegseth and Jarvis were in Europe for a conference of NATO defence ministers. Former US Marine Hegseth, famous for his extreme-right tattoos, reportedly accused:

some countries of “free riding” and others of being shameful for not allowing their airbases to be used by US jets bombing Iran in the spring.

Though Hegseth’s remarks were delivered behind closed doors to a group of allies, including the UK’s new defence secretary, Dan Jarvis, they were briefed out by the Pentagon in its latest attempt to push Europe into raising military budgets.

He even told Jarvis:

that it was unacceptable for Nato allies to be “standing at the end of a runway with a clipboard to decide what flies” – a reference to restrictions placed across Europe on US jets bombing Iran.

Hegseth — UK complicity with US attack not enough

The Canary covered the UK’s complicity with, and active support for, the US throughout the illegal war. Hegseth’s issue is that very few countries joined in fully — barring Israel. The Brits may not have bombed Iran, but they enabled the bombing.

Reuters reported in March 2026:

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that at least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran in the U.S.-Israeli strikes so far.

Adding:

It was not clear if those figures included at least 104 people who the Iranian military said were killed ​in a U.S. attack on an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on March 4.

Over 100 legal experts warned,on 2 April, the US attack on Iran was illegal.

Hegseth reportedly also said:

Iranian targets threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us, but too many of our allies said no, or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful.

The US is in a poor negotiating position with its allies. After all, it has just been shown up by Iran. None of the key Trump war aims — like regime change — were achieved. The US spent billions on the war and now appears to be tied into a deal where billions more will go to Iran for reconstruction.

Hegseth is the kind of politician who finds it hard to process that the US isn’t calling the shots anymore. Nevertheless, this is the truth of US decline — and of the self-defeating chaos Donald Trump’s administration created in Iran.

Featured image via the Canary