The Secretary of Defense apologizes for hiding his illness: “I should have informed the president”. Lloyd Austin appeared before the press for the first time since he was hospitalized for treatment of prostate cancer and gave a'mea culpa' about how he handled the situation.
Austin underwent a prostatectomy on December 22 to treat his cancer and was subsequently discharged. On the night of January 1 he returned to the medical center due to a urinary tract infection resulting from the operation and was admitted to the intensive care unit.