This is our flagship newsletter Morning Wire. You can subscribe here and we’ll email it to you daily.In the news today: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops; wildfire smoke engulfs swaths of the Midwest and Northeast; and the U.S. expands its strikes into northern Iran. Also, why scientists are excited about finding sugar in outer space.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump meets with Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” Read more.Why this matters:The move comes as other Trump administration officials have begun to advocate for men to have easier access to testosterone replacement therapies, but the messaging from Hegseth and others blends known science on the hormone with broader, and less substantiated, claims. The Pentagon did not respond to questions about what research or academic studies underpinned the move.Over the past several years, special operations troops — and specifically Navy SEALs — have come under scrutiny for their use of testosterone and similar substances to enhance performance. The death of a SEAL recruit during training in 2022 led to the discovery of substances including testosterone in his possession, and revealed far more rampant drug use among the elite program than was previously acknowledged.Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Air Force veteran, said it “proves that Secretary Hegseth takes direction from the far corners of the manosphere.”Related coverage →Vance says Trump administration ‘screwed up’ communications around Epstein filesICE should keep making traffic stops despite recent shootings, Trump saysReport: Detainees at ICE facility in Texas report frequent beatings and other human rights abusesAfter six years, Trump brings his election obsession to primetime at the White House
