Hegseth on China's Threat of War: US Is 'Prepared'

Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth said the U.S. is prepared, hours after China threatened war with the U.S. in response to the latest tariff hike on Chinese goods. Here's the Pentagon chief speaking during a Fox & Friends interview Wednesday morning. Take a listen. This was posted by the Chinese embassy, quote, if war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end. As Secretary of Defense, how do you take that? Well, we're, we're prepared. Those who long for peace must prepare for war. We are, we are, that's why we're rebuilding our military. That's why we're re-establishing deterrence and the warrior ethos is because we live in a dangerous world with powerful ascendant countries with very different ideologies. You mentioned defense spending. They're rapidly increasing their defense spending, modern technology. They want to supplant the United States. If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong. And that president understands peace comes through strength. He also has a great relationship with that gentleman right there too, Xi Jinping. So where we can partner, where we can, uh, can cooperate to recognize that we don't want war with, with, with China. We don't seek that war. We will. And the president has sought historic peace and historic opportunities. But my job as the secretary of defense is to make sure we're ready. We need the defense spending, the capabilities, the weapons, and the posture in the Indo-Pacific, which is something we're very much focused on. President Trump raised tariffs on all Chinese goods to 20% on Tuesday, on top of existing levies on certain products. According to the latest data from 2023, exports make up roughly 19% of China's GDP. Data released by Statista shows nearly 15% of Chinese exports last year were shipped to the U.S.