Trump creates military spouse commission; talks Iran, Reflecting Pool, more - EUROPE SAYS
(TNND) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to establish a commission focused on supporting military spouses. The commission will be chaired by Jennifer Hegseth, the wife of Defense. . .
(TNND) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to establish a commission focused on supporting military spouses. The commission will be chaired by Jennifer Hegseth, the wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and include spouses of senior military leaders across the various branches, representing both federal and National Guard troops. Jennifer Hegseth said at the signing ceremony that thePresident’s Military Spouse Commissionwill tackle “generational issues that are long overdue to address. ”The commission will serve as the voice of the military spouse in the White House. The commission will address challenges to housing, employment, health care, education and more, acknowledging the difficult job of holding down the home front through frequent moves and service members’ long deployments. “America cannot have the strongest military in the world without the love and devotion of our remarkable military spouses, who make the extraordinary sacrifices for our country,” Trump said at the ceremony. The Defense Department’ssurveys of active duty spousesfound theyearn nearly 40% lessthan their civilian counterparts andface a 20% unemployment rate– over four and a half times the national unemployment rate. Military spouses spend an average of 23 weeks looking for employment, despite being a highly educated bunch. The survey found 82% have completed at least some college, while another 5% have a vocational or technical diploma. But nearly a quarter of military spouses reported having to move within the previous year, because their partner got a new duty station. And such a movemore than doubled the oddsthat a civilian active duty spouse was unemployed, according to the military. The Defense Department already hasefforts to connect military spouses with hundreds of partner employerswho have committed to recruit, hire, promote and retain them as employees. AndUSAA launched a $500 million, multiyear effort last fallto help veterans and military spouses achieve meaningful careers, financial security and, ultimately, well-being. “If your family’s not taking care of, then it causes hesitations and complications for the war-fighters up front,” Pete Hegseth said at the signing ceremony. “And so, as we say often, and we mean it, no soldier, no Marine, no member of the joint force serves alone. ”Trump took questions from a pool of reporters in the Oval Office following the signing ceremony, touching on a number of other topics. Trump said “last chance” talks areunderway with Iran. The president said the American military held off this weekend on stronger strikes against Iran after calls from Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and others to give diplomacy more time. “I don’t want to use the word ‘begging,’ but some were,” Trump said. “In particular, Iran did not want to be hit. And they said, ‘We want to talk. We want to talk about the Strait (of Hormuz),’ but more importantly from my standpoint, ‘We want to talk about the denuclearization of Iran. ’”President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order establishing the President’s Military Spouse Commission in the Oval Office at the White House on Aug. 3, 2026, in Washington. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Trump touched on the GOP voter identification bill he’s championed, adding that he believes Congress should stay in Washington through its August recessto pass the SAVE America Act. The topic came up when a reporter asked Trump about the possibility of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdanirequiring ID to access city-operated grocery storesdespite Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act. Trump was asked about the $1. 8 billion“anti-weaponization fund,”which has been terminated via a formal order from Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, as he seeks to win over GOP holdouts for permanent confirmation to the role. Trump talked about immigration and border enforcement in light of themigrant surge in Spain. And he wassharply critical of U. S. Attorney Jeanine Pirrofordropping felony charges against former Olympian David Hearn, whom he has accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool in the nation’s capital. “The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine, and frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious,” Trump told reporters.