Tara Copp

Stay informed with Tara Copp’s coverage and analysis.

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FILE – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown speaks during a press briefing, April 26, 2024, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Trump fires chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, top Navy officer, and Air Force’s vice chief

By Tara Copp, Lolita C. Baldor, and others

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Defense Secretary Hegseth tells Pentagon to cut 8% of its 2026 budget to fund Trump priorities

By Tara Copp and The Associated Press

Salvage crews work on recovering wreckage near the site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FAA union warns Trump is firing hundreds of aviation employees just weeks after deadly DC crash

By Tara Copp and The Associated Press

Pete Hegseth speaks while sitting at a table

Pete Hegseth says Ukraine joining NATO is ‘unrealistic’ and demands member nations take responsibility for their own security: ‘The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship’

By Lorne Cook, Tara Copp, and others

FILE – In this April 17, 2019, photo, reviewed by U.S. military officials, the control tower is seen through the razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Guantanamo Bay receives first military flight with migrants deported from the U.S.

By Tara Copp, Lolita C. Baldor, and others

A boat works the scene near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

American Airlines jet carrying 64 crashes after colliding with Army helicopter near Washington D.C.

By Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, and others

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, pats Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., on his shoulder as he answers questions from reporters after arriving at the Pentagon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Trump signs executive order that likely will lead to a ban on transgender troops in the U.S. military

By Tara Copp, Lolita C. Baldor, and others

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth told senator he paid $50,000 to woman who accused him of 2017 sex assault

By Tara Copp and The Associated Press

Members of the Mexican National Guard patrol as construction crews replace sections of one of two border walls separating Mexico from the United States, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Pentagon has begun deploying 1,500 active duty troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border

By Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, and others

Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth arrives before President-elect Donald Trump at a service at St. John’s Church, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleges he abused his second wife in affidavit to Senate

By Farnoush Amiri, Tara Copp, and others

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows an ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

Army Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas

By Tara Copp, Alanna Durkin Richer, and others

A Tesla Cybertruck on fire after detonating outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas

Matthew Livelsberger, who died in the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, was a highly decorated Green Beret

By Tara Copp, Alanna Durkin Richer, and others

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy waves as he arrives at the Elysee Palace, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

New US weapons package for Ukraine brings total in the past week to $1.7 billion — ‘The baton will soon be passed’

By Tara Copp and The Associated Press

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth faces Senate scrutiny over sexual assault and workplace alcohol use allegations

By Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, and others

Pete Hegseth

Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary has a tattoo that got him flagged as a potential security threat in the military

By Tara Copp, Michelle R. Smith, and others