Anthropic disputes Hegseth's public claim it was designated a supply chain risk

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X, on 27 February 2026, that he was directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk to America’s national security,” a move he said would bar military contractors from doing business with the company, following President Trump’s order that federal agencies stop using Anthropic’s technology. Anthropic responded the same day, disputing that any designation had actually taken effect: it said it had not received direct communication from the Department of War or the White House about the status of the underlying negotiations, and that Hegseth’s public statement was not itself a completed agency action.

The dispute traced back to a stalemate over two conditions Anthropic said it would not concede in its contract negotiations with the department: a ban on using Claude for mass domestic surveillance of Americans, and a requirement for human decision-making in the use of fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic’s statement reaffirmed both positions, said “no amount of intimidation or punishment” would change them, and said it would challenge any supply-chain-risk designation in court if one were formally made. It also argued the designation, even if issued, would have no statutory basis for restricting commercial or individual use of Claude outside direct Department of War contract work.

Formal written notice of the designation followed roughly a week later, which Anthropic confirmed and responded to at greater length, setting up the legal fight that produced a preliminary injunction in Anthropic’s favour later that month.