He accused Anthropic of trying to use the DoW controversy to boost positive press, and Trump joined in. On Truth Social, he labeled Anthropic a “radical leftist, woke company” that allegedly puts its “self-interests” above national security. Following Trump’s post, Hegseth wrote on X, “Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal, as well as a textbook case of not doing business with the United States government or the Pentagon.”
In both posts, officials claimed that the orders to blacklist Anthropic were effective immediately, but neither explained what authority they had to do so.
During oral arguments, a government attorney later admitted that “he was not aware of any statute that would give Secretary Hegseth the authority to issue such an injunction and agreed that the statement had ‘absolutely no legal effect,'” Lynn wrote. Furthermore, “when asked why Hegseth made a public statement that had no legal effect and did not reflect the DoW’s immediate intent, counsel said, ‘I don’t know.’
Perhaps most obviously, Hegseth contradicted himself by arguing that Anthropic once “presented a serious threat to national security” that required supply-chain risk designation and also that “Anthropic was essential to national security” and could be forced to provide services under the Defense Production Act.
The only reason the government labeled Anthropic a national security risk was so the company could update its products and compromise systems. He claimed that Anthropic would be induced to sabotage the army as retaliation for the directives.
But Lin thought this was unlikely, as any other IT provider could potentially present similar risks. More importantly, Anthropic showed irrefutable evidence that it would be impossible to force updates or otherwise control the government’s systems. According to the judge, it would make sense to prevent any national security risks by terminating the Army’s contract with Anthropic, which Anthropic had already agreed to.
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