Exclusive: Hegseth directs Defense Dept. to fight foreigners who "meddle" in U.S. elections (axios.com)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has assigned personnel to use "advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference" in the upcoming elections, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The threat of foreign election interference has been a biennial U.S. concern for the past decade. This effort will use the most advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to date, officials said. Hegseth's order does not direct military personnel to the polls, but President Trump has refused to rule out that possibility, heightening concern from Democrats and administration critics. Zoom in: Under a memo Hegseth authorized on Sept. 22 that has not been reported previously, the secretary pledged to fight foreign interference and uphold democratic freedoms. The memo has three related directives: Prioritize his department's "intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do not meddle in our democratic systems" under U.S. Cyber Command and the Directors of the Combat Support Agencies. Use the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to collect and produce information "on foreign threats to our elections, in accordance with the law, regulation, Executive direction." Counter "potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting our elections" through joint operations between U.S. Cyber Command and the Department of Homeland Security. Catch up quick: The directive relies on Trump's 2025 order titled " Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections " and was also drafted in response to his July speech accusing China of interfering in the 2020 election, which China denied . This memo from Hegseth follows a similar effort before the 2022 midterms under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, that directed U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency to "disrupt, deter, and degrade foreign adversaries' ability to interfere with and influence how U.S. citizens vote and how those votes are counted." Zoom out: The federal government has played an increased role in detecting election threats from foreign governments since 2017, when elections were designated critical infrastructure by DHS. Trump's pick to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, told senators during his confirmation hearing that such work was "fundamental" and that he'd continue to "safeguard" American democracy. But Trump's own government cuts have slashed these efforts ahead of the midterms. He proposed cutting the election security budget for the main DHS component responsible, CISA, and staffing at other key posts was delayed. Meanwhile, significant resources have been put into finding instances of voter fraud in past elections and on the voter rolls, with portions of DHS's staff assigned to that. Flashback: After Trump's loss in 2020, Trump allies shared a memo asking the president to use DOD's and NSA's "unprocessed raw signals data" to try to investigate election fraud, according to the Washington Post . The officials n