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... Why it matters: Hegseth's comments, followed Wednesday by President Trump's initiation of direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, drew fierce criticism from NATO allies and even some Republicans.

- - - "I don't know who wrote the speech -- it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, told Politico.

- - - Wicker, speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, suggested that Hegseth had made a "rookie mistake" and "walked back some of what he said" on Thursday. ...