HEGSETH’S ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ CRUSADE: Secretary Pete Hegseth, befitting his rebranded title, is on the warpath. Hegseth is skipping the NATO defense ministers meeting this week in Brussels. He won’t be hobnobbing with top world and defense leaders at the weekend’s Munich Security Conference (Secretary of State Marco Rubio will represent the U.S. at the prestigious conference).

Instead of appearing on the world stage, Hegseth has been assigned a singular mission — to implement President Donald Trump’s Jan. 7 executive order to cajole, threaten, and consult with defense contractors to make more weapons, faster and cheaper.