LIVE: War Secretary Hegseth Holds Pentagon Press Briefing

Well, good morning. I'll get right to it. What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment. Time for one man's final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president, this country, and most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it. It's a farce. And everybody knows it. In the 250 years of our American Republic, no Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations. And in our case, successful ones at that, not once. War powers resolution or not, not under Reagan in Lebanon, not under Clinton in Kosovo, not under Obama in Iraq and Syria, not under Biden in Iraq and Syria. That's the standard. The history is clear and it's very straightforward. And one disgruntled congressman wants to shred it over policy disagreements. That's what it is, policy disagreements. Not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause. The proper remedy for a policy disagreement, it's legislation, it's debate. It's the next presidential election. It's not handing the House and Senate floor to the Democrats so that they can run a show trial against the president and the secretary of war while Republicans still control Congress and should be delivering wins for the American people. You see, we've seen this show before. They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call. They impeached him again in his final week in office. Both times they failed. Both times he came back stronger. And the American people sent him back to the White House. Now they're trying a third time. This time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again. And if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I'll take that company every day of the week. Let's be clear about what this resolution actually does. It tells our enemies. Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. It tells them that a single rogue legislator loaded with personal animus for the president can attempt to veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief. It puts a target on the backs of American warriors. By signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real time. This is not patriotism. This is sabotage. You know, five years ago, America was humiliated in Kabul, Afghanistan. And every enemy on earth took notice. But somehow, as the president pointed out yesterday, no impeachment vote for Lloyd Austin for that terrible withdrawal. Not even one vote. Or no impeachment vote for when he went AWOL for over a week. No impeachment vote for when he let a Chinese spy balloon fly over the country for over a week. See, President Trump ended that kind of wokeness and weakness. Peace through strength, not as a slogan, but as a way of war. The Houthis found out first. They fired on American ships. Biden had let it happen. President Trump said no more. Operation Rough Rider hit them more than a thousand times. They cried uncle and they stopped shooting at our ships to this day. Iran found out next. Operation Midnight Hammer, B2s from the heartland, halfway around the world, straight into Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. Flawless. The largest and most successful B2 strike in American history. Nuclear sites obliterated. Later in Operation Epic Fury, by every measure, we achieved a historic military victory. Under 40 days of sustained combat, more than 13,000 targets struck, their Navy sunk, their Air Force grounded, their defense industrial base gone, more than 80% of their nuclear industrial base gone, their military in ruin, the ironclad blockade unbroken. We control the Strait of Hormuz. Crazy Islamists in Tehran will never, ever have a nuclear weapon. A historic effort only made possible by a courageous commander-in-chief. History will judge the Iran war quite differently than conventional wisdom right now. We didn't start this war. Iran did 47 years ago. But President Trump is willing to do what no other president would, He did the tough right thing, not for politics, but for the safety and the security of the American people. That's leadership. He did not kick the can. He kicked their teeth in. My generation fought other Middle Eastern wars that dragged on for years, for decades. We lost thousands, thousands of Americans. I wear the bracelet of one of them on my left wrist every single day. It reminds me. And may I remind you, for perspective, we lost 60,000 Americans in Vietnam over 20 years. We lost 37,000 in Korea in just three years. That many humans are lost on the front lines of Ukraine and Russia every month. This, Epic Fury, has never been that, and it never will be, The media can just never admit the military success, because they, you, hate the president more than you love our country or our troops. Then in our own hemisphere, we started at home from day one. President Trump made homeland security national security. We sent American troops to lock down the southwest border and choked off the cartel pipeline of human smuggling of drugs and death. And then we took the fight to them. The cartels thought they could just poison the American people and hide from justice. So we formed a counter cartel coalition, designated them terrorists and hunted them at sea. And now on land. More than 70 narco vessels sunk, 218 narco terrorists dead where they should be, maritime smuggling down at least 65% and dropping even further. Thousands of American lives saved with every drug boat sunk and every shipment prevented. Indicted and wanted, Nicolas Maduro thought he was untouchable. He was not kidnapped. He was brought to justice by America's best. Victory in one night. Victory in 48 minutes, to be precise. And today he sits in front of an American judge in New York City. Flawless success. Panama kicked China's Belt and Road Initiative to the curb, and we, along with them, control the canal. The message is simple. This is our hemisphere. Act accordingly. Our NATO allies, after decades of riding on the American taxpayer in Europe, Committed to 5% of GDP for their own defense. Our allies are finally stepping up. Out with being a burden, in with burden sharing. Why? Because President Trump demanded it. America is the only country on earth and this military the only one that could successfully execute and lead all of these operations and efforts. Sheer success, victories in both Venezuela and Iran. We're in energy security. In our hemisphere, in a way none thought possible for a generation, and no nuclear bomb for Iran ever. But of course, security doesn't come free. Nobody was lost in the mission in Venezuela, but 18 Americans have given their lives in Operation Epic Fury. We know their names. I've been to Dover. We honor them every day, but their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve. As it happens, tomorrow is Veterans Day. This year, the operators of Absolute Resolve and the Warriors of Epic Fury were marked for the first time. They stand shoulder to shoulder with the pilots of Midnight Hammer and the sailors of Rough Rider who went before them. They answered the call. They executed. They won. And on the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes and no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise while I hold this office. President Trump gave this department what it has not had in a generation. A commander-in-chief with the courage to lead and the resolve to win. I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them and I would do it again tomorrow. And while this defeated politician Defeated, ironically, by a Navy SEAL, I might add. While this defeated politician drafts articles of impeachment. We've delivered the first increase, and a big one, in hostile fire and imminent danger pay in more than 20 years. We've reinstated over 600 service members who were forced out under the previous administration's COVID mandate. All five of our services broke historic recruiting records, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Space Force, the Marines, for two years in a row. In fact, the Marines in FY27 met half of their goal on day one. Americans are lining up to serve in President Trump's Department of War. And by the way, to those Marines and all those Marines out there, Semper Fi and happy 251st birthday today. Two years of historic recruitment after Biden couldn't recruit anyone. Same with retention, by the way, through the roof. That means the troops that are in are staying in the best of the best based on merit staying in night and day from Biden to Trump. We cut unnecessary senior officer billets by 20% and raised combat performance standards. Through the one big beautiful bill, we're investing in troop pay and housing and health care and advanced weapons and equipment our warfighters actually need to win. That's the record. That's what we're defending. Make no mistake about what is happening. This is not about me. Politicians in Washington have accused the sailors and the pilots who struck narco-terrorist boats of war crimes. For doing their job. Senators, in cute videos, have suggested the same. This resolution is the next step. Put the secretary on trial today and the men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow. If they want to come for the warriors, they're going to have to come through me. As for the articles themselves. Iran, the cartels, Maduro, Yemen, every one was a lawful operation ordered by the Commander-in-Chief, then ordered by myself, notified to Congress and executed by American warriors who did their jobs. We destroyed terror regimes' capabilities. We sank the boats carrying poison into our communities. We put a narco dictator in handcuffs. These are not high crimes. This is the job, and it's the job well done. For the first time in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America's military is being attacked not for losing conflicts with our enemies, but for winning them. Condemned not for defeat, but for military victory. The disgruntled congressman even admitted this himself yesterday. No failure here, just impeachment for success. As to the claim that the American military targets civilians, well, that is a lie and that is a slander against every professional who flew, sailed, and fought on these missions. The only people who target civilians are the terrorists that we hunt, and I will dignify this claim no further. None of these are high crimes or misdemeanors. They're partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military. We will not apologize for putting American lives first. We will not apologize for stopping the flow of drugs that kill our citizens. We will not apologize for destroying the capabilities of a regime that chants death to America. And if that regime makes one wrong move, as the president said, we remain locked and loaded with the full weight and lethality of central command. We will not apologize for restoring a military that recruits based on merit, restores real standards, and fights to win. These resolutions are a farce. They mock the Constitution, they attack the chain of command, and they criminalize the warfighters who execute lawful orders. This process hands our adversaries a propaganda victory and wastes the time of Congress that should instead be focused on protecting the American people. We will continue to do the job the American people elected President Trump to do, protect this country, defeat our enemies, and rebuild a military worthy of the warriors who wear the uniform. I pray each day, and I hope you do too, for our troops. They are the best of our nation. Like the president, I will defend them with every fiber of my being every single day. That includes having their back no matter what. So to the troops, as I've said before, don't blink, ignore the noise, never hesitate. This is all politics. You do real things. Stay the course. May Almighty God protect them always. And may our actions today and every day bring glory to him. We will stand, we will fight, and we will defend this republic against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And amen. And with that, I'll take a few questions. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Excuse me. There's been some reporting of the IRGC rearming in this interim period of ceasefire that has proliferated behind the blockade, and the president has signaled that we may not resume kinetic operations. So my question is, how will the IRGC remain degraded per the epic fury objectives if we are not resuming this kinetic activity? And then how confident are you in maintaining nuclear degradation of Iran? We can maintain oversight and nuclear degradation, as the President has talked about. We're able to maintain oversight and visibility of those nuclear sites, and if we saw the kind of nefarious activity that required action, we would take it. The President has made it clear about what we can see from space and what we can read on their name tapes. So we will watch that on a lot of levels very, very closely. As far as the blockade is concerned, it's been ironclad. Nothing has gotten through. When you can't fund your energy economy, you have to make very difficult choices. And when you combine that with... Almost no defense industrial base and a limited nuclear industrial base and the damage that was done before that, their ability to reconstitute is much less than ours. So we know they'll attempt to. This is the number one, the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, committed to terrorism, built tunnels and caves and all. We know that they're going to attempt to reconstitute. We know that we are in a much stronger position, nonetheless, going forward. Absolutely. Yes, sir. I'm Mr. Secretary David Zier, Real America's Voice. How does it make you feel, and what kind of message does it send to our allies in the counter-cartel coalition when our own politicians don't support taking out the narco-traffickers that kill their own constituents? And these countries joined us even after, almost a year after the boat strikes commenced, and they are on board with us. These countries that joined the America's counter-cartel coalition, the ACCC, Didn't just join us, and they didn't join us reluctantly. They joined us proudly and boldly and quickly because what they saw first was leadership from the president. They saw a president reestablishing the Monroe Doctrine, the Trump Corollary. We will both stop narco-terrorists in our hemisphere and expel malign foreign influence. That's what these countries have wanted. They just haven't had the leadership and they haven't had capability. So when they saw us taking the lead with Southern Spear on the drug boats, when they saw the operation with Nicolas Maduro, they saw what we were capable of on the blockade around Venezuela, they said, we want in on that. That's American leadership. We don't want... China and Russia and Iran dominating our hemisphere. We'd rather have America be our defense partner and commercial partner of choice. And so the counter-cartel coalition has grown very quickly because of that. But you're on to an important point also. When our politicians want to play political games, insinuating that our troops may be committing war crimes or they're not following the law when everything has been lawful from day one, They start to... So doubt, or attempt to sow doubt, and that's the same kind of doubt they want to sow inside our partners of the ACCC, is, well, if you go after these cartel members in your country, maybe someone will go after you later. And so we're working really hard with these countries to prevent that kind of lawfare, to make sure they can get after these drug cartels that have decimated their communities. And it's the one wonderful thing about the ACCC is it's It's mutually beneficial. They get to save their countries and take their streets back. We get to prevent drugs and gangs from coming to our country. Both sides win in that dynamic. I really appreciate that question. Thank you, sir. It sounds like you feel confident in the president's support. Is that accurate? And as another one, how do you feel about Stephen Miller becoming the new chief of staff? Are you looking forward to working with him in that capacity? I let the president speak for himself, and I'm grateful for his support. We've never had a better commander-in-chief, full stop. I get to watch him every single day. He lives and breathes America first, and it's the honor of a lifetime to be his Secretary of War. Any day he'll have me, I'll be right here at this podium. As far as Stephen Miller is concerned... Uh, uh... He is an incredible American patriot and a great friend of this department. We wouldn't have an ACCC, an America's Counter-Cartel Coalition, without Stephen Miller. We wouldn't have a secure southwest border for 18 months without what Stephen Miller has enabled. So he has, we've got no better friend at the Department of War than Stephen Miller. He'll be a fantastic chief of staff. He understands the president's agenda. He will stand, he will fight, and defend this republic, and we're proud to be right there with him. All the way. Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Thank you, sir. Chuck Schumer said yesterday that he wants to put you on trial. Are you expecting this in the next Congress? And, I mean, what's that going to look like when the Democrats take control? I mean, it's what happens when you put... People with ideological agendas in charge of institutions, if they want to talk about America's, excuse me, President Trump's foreign policy and national security record, let's do it. I'll see you there. Let's have a conversation about the success that I outlined here, which for partisan reasons they want to take issue with. But the ability for America to project power and ensure security of the American people has never been better than it is right here today. And I can tell you, if you walk inside our formations, and I've encouraged many of you to do that, you talk to the troops. They feel more empowered, more enabled, more backed than they ever have. So if you want to talk about that, talk about our recruiting success, talk about the military operations that we've undertaken successfully, I'd welcome that conversation, no doubt. Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, Vice President J.D. Vance says the Iran war was a major reason why the Republicans lost in the midterms. Do you agree? I respect the Vice President greatly, and I'm certainly not going to exchange any finger-pointing. Thankfully, politics is not really my thing. I do the Department of War, making sure we're prepared and ready. So a lot of people are going to look at the conflict and assess it. And the Vice President has been a critical member of the team in every aspect of this, and we're grateful for all the input he's given me personally and our department. And I think going forward, we're going to learn all those lessons and apply them. But I... I agree with what the president said when he said, hey, if I had to do this all over again, would we do it again? Absolutely. It was done for the right reasons to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Thank you. As Marco Rubio said, I think quite well, it's not necessarily popular. But it may have been necessary, and that's certainly how I feel it was a necessary undertaking. A question on the impeachment effort and a question on the war. On the impeachment effort, have you been making calls to allies on Capitol Hill to get support during this impeachment effort? And also on the war, it's been reported that Stephen Miller pitched himself for the job of chief of staff on the promise that he would end the Iran war. Have you spoken to Stephen Miller about that? Well, I talked to Stephen Miller about a lot of things, but he's busy in his new role right now, and I look forward to meeting with him soon, in particular about the ways that we'll work together. What was the first question again? The first question was on the impeachment effort. Have you been making calls to Capitol Hill? Well, thankfully, I think what people misunderstand is the depth of partnership and work that we have done with House Republicans and Senate Republicans and others that are willing to reach across the aisle. I mean, our legislative affairs team has been very active, obviously, working with Speaker Johnson, who's done a fantastic job, and the whip. Tom Emmer. We've been in touch with a lot of members. There's a ton of support. There's also an understanding that this is one disgruntled guy who drew up some really flimsy articles that aren't grounded actually in the Constitution or things that are high crimes and misdemeanors. And so whether they love everything that's been done, they don't want to vote for something that isn't real. So I'm grateful that Republicans have been taking a real look at this and the Speaker has led on it. And I appreciate that. Secretary Mike Glenn. Yes, sir. Yes, thank you, sir. You know, the impeachment notwithstanding, the Democrats are going to run the House and the Senate next year. Are you making any kind of moves or any kind to reach out to them to, you know, to try to make some sort of conciliatory piece, you know, about your budget needs for next year? I would say this again, something else that gets appreciated the question that gets misconstrued often is that we're somehow disengaged from Capitol Hill and we're not briefing Capitol Hill and we're not talking to Republicans or we're not talking to Democrats. We've got civilian leaders and uniformed leaders up on Capitol Hill all the time. That has been the case, and that will be the case with Republicans and with Democrats. And right now we're flooding the zone because this lame duck period is critically important for funding of our department. $350 billion at a minimum for reconciliation is what we believe is needed to make a generational and historic investment in this department, something our warfighters need. You talk about this. Circus that one congressman has tried to unleash like that's one small thing over here that we deal with. It's it's it's It's nothing compared to that what we're actually engaged in and dealing with which is ensuring Operationally we're prepared all around the globe and then we get the funding for the troops that they need and we're working with Speaker Johnson We're working with Leader Thune. We're working to all the Republicans to try to take this opportunity We know the Democrats won't do it. Sadly. I wish they would To take this opportunity to try to fund the troops in a way that ensures we dominate at every domain for decades to come, which is ultimately my job. My job is not to litigate all of this every day. It's to ensure we're funded and funded properly, which is what the president expects every single day. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.