119 things Pete Hegseth said, verbatim, from March 26, 2026 to October 1, 2026, each linked to where it ran. Grouped by the questions at issue, with who supported, disputed, or qualified each one.
69stories
119statements
Oct 1latest entry
Positions
01
The Pentagon should cut 20% of its general and flag officer positions by Jan. 1, 2027.
Supports
“I call it accountability, and long overdue. And frankly, the bare minimum.”
U.S. Navy military service branch operating the USS Abraham Lincoln Disputes
The Navy says it has not identified an increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship, and it has declined to release numbers, citing operational security and patient privacy.
Unnamed mother of a USS Lincoln sailor anonymous source, relayed by MeidasTouch Supports
There's one mother who said her son told her there was a stretch where he was eating half a cup of rice and two tortillas.
06
The USS Abraham Lincoln's nine-month deployment has already lasted too long.
Qualifies
“Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody.”
“But instead of finding the money that they need now for air defenses, we’re putting more money into this exchange with Iran, a war of choice which we never should have entered.”
on funding the Iran conflict instead of air defense needs
“Secretary Hegseth, you’re requesting billions of dollars in supplemental funding for a war that you said would last for weeks and that the president has no plan or ability to end,”
“The Iranian defense industrial base is effectively gone, but they do have underground facilities because they're the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, and they've spent 47 years trying to hide their missiles under mountains, just like their nuclear capabilities,”
on Iran's destroyed defense industry and hidden underground missile sites
“we need to protect our troops wherever our president directs them, that we need to protect our partners and allies, and that the dangerous radical Iranian regime should never possess a nuclear weapon. I think we agree on all of these core basic points.”
on protecting US troops and allies and preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon
“Unlike the endless wars of the past that dragged on for years and for decades with little to show for it, Operation Epic Fury has delivered a decisive military result in just weeks,”
on Operation Epic Fury, the US military campaign against Iran
“Iran is going to have every opportunity to cut the kind of deal they should at the table, and if they don’t — the War Department will be right here ready to go.”
on threatening military action against Iran if no nuclear deal is reached
“These allies, they put America's sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing overflight that never should have been in question at all.”
“Everything we’re going to do is verify, verify, verify. And so at every step, whether it’s our military posture or it’s the carrots that exist to ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon, all performance-based.”
“One key difference between this agreement and others is this was BORN OF STRENGTH of American action. JCPOA came from a bunch of begging and talking—this agreement came after months of bombing and a blockade that was IMPENETRABLE.”
“Our military posture will be whatever it needs to be to ensure they’re compelled over this 60 days through the memorandum of understanding that they live up to what they said they would do,”
on enforcing Iran's compliance during a 60 day agreement window
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated – choose your word. This was an historically successful attack,”
on the fired admiral's account of the U.S. strike's success
“It’s the result of unmatched training, superior technology and unbreakable warrior ethos and sheer American grit. Our special operators, pilots and support crews performed with near perfection under fire, and they were lethal,”
on the operation that rescued a downed U.S. airman from Iran
“…Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday, hidden in a cave crevice all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday, flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday,”
on the Easter weekend timeline of a downed airman's rescue from Iran
“I pursued my enemies and overtook them. I did not turn back ‘til they were consumed. I thrust them through so that they were not able to rise. They fell under my feet,”
on Hegseth invoking scripture while praying for overwhelming violence against Iran
“Obviously, we’re fighting religious fanatics who seek a nuclear capability for some religious Armageddon. But from my perspective, I mean, obviously I’m a man of faith who encourages our troops to lean into their faith, rely on God. There’s no atheists in foxholes,”
on Hegseth framing the Iran conflict as against religious fanatics seeking nuclear arms
“took munitions one-for-one and sent them to Ukraine and had tried to replace them with the same bureaucratic process that was too slow and didn’t replace them in real time.”
on US weapons stockpiles depleted by sending munitions to Ukraine
“every sovereign nation and territory north of the Equator, from Greenland to Ecuador and from Alaska to Guyana, is not part of the “Global South.” It is our immediate security perimeter in this great neighborhood that we all live in.”
“Through the newly inaugurated president, as our president likes to say, President El Tigre, Colombia has already requested that the Department of War join Colombia in its fight against narco-terrorism, authorizing joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks.”
“And when you’ve got a motivated treasury secretary who can pull a lot of levers because he knows how to do it, you can put a lot of pressure on adversaries.”
“Some of NATO’s largest economies, some of the richest countries—allies that are happiest to go on about the rules-based international order and middle powers banding together—still seem to think the era of free riding is here.”
on wealthy NATO allies relying on the US for defense
“(Voters) have seen their grocery and gas bills rise, and this unpopular and unauthorized war abroad is a higher priority to this administration than their ability to feed their families and provide healthcare to their loved ones who are sick.”
“The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, reminding everybody it was open before the war. Prices were lower for everybody until the war, … and of course, tragically, people, service members, our warfighters who we care deeply about, are still dying. So what's different?”
“what happens with the future of Cuba is in the hands of the president of the United States and the leadership of Cuba. No matter what, the Department of War is going to be prepared and postured for any possible contingency.”
“designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe.”
“It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,”
“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered. Along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,”
“Our world is safer and more prosperous when the United States of America and our allies are strong, free, and unapologetic in defense of our Western tradition of freedom,”
on Hegseth's D-Day speech warning migrants are storming European beaches
“The men who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe. That freedom must be maintained by this generation of leaders and war fighters, or what they fought for was merely temporary,”
“For too long, our military has been bogged down by the same old tired Washington playbook: spending trillions on exquisite weapons systems, while our troops live in aging bases, outdated barracks, and with inadequate infrastructure. That era is over,”
on the Pentagon's competition to design a new flagship military base
“Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do on those high seas and those austere conditions with less port calls, it’s incredible,”
on sailors' long deployments and harsh conditions at sea after one jumped overboard
“These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet and a real meal. Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars.”
“This blatant neglect for our national security also destroyed your borders and your sovereignty and your immigration systems as well. That is why we’re here today together,”
on Hegseth's Panama conference addressing narcoterrorists and traffickers
“As we gather here today, the War Department is seeking a historic generational investment of $1.5 trillion for American warriors. And Lindsey himself said, to me in his office, ‘this is the best military budget I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress,'”
“He looked at me and said, how’s $355 billion sound? He wanted to give even more than $350 billion. He wanted to ensure our military was as equipped as humanly possible, because he was thinking of places like this one right here,”
“The Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors. I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing. Everything has been extraordinary,”
“about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”
“There's definitely adversary alignment, attempts to do so, and there are many ways that we deter that. And the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, and it should,”
on Zelenskyy accusing Russia of helping Iran target US bases
“Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, warfighters age 30 and older are going to be tested annually as part of their periodic health assessment,”
on new annual health testing for warfighters age 30 and older
“Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, war fighters aged 30 and older are going to be tested annually as part of their periodic health assessment,”
“We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage, which is why we must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience and your long-term health,”
“This initiative, it's not about artificial enhancement. It's about restoring and optimizing your natural abilities, protecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight,”
“This initiative, it’s not about artificial enhancement; it’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain and fight,”
“The modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting. It requires and demands maximum psychological and mental readiness. And by addressing these health markers early, we’re keeping you on the leading edge of lethality,”
“This initiative — it’s not about artificial enhancement; it’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight,”
“And to meet that commitment today, I’m authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best,”
“The modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting. It requires and demands maximum psychological and mental readiness, and by addressing these health markers early, we’re keeping you on the leading edge of lethality and giving you the same level of support that you give this nation,”
on Hegseth's push to screen troops' health markers to boost military lethality
“Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, war fighters age 30 and older are going to be tested annually as part of their periodic health assessment,”
on testosterone testing for military service members
“We’ve known for a long time that Iran had intentions to kill President Trump, while that wasn’t the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, never was raised by the president or anybody else,”
on Iran's long-standing intentions to kill Trump before recent strikes
“You’re not from Washington, most of you, but this is your capital. And you believe in this 250th year that it should be safe and it should be secure for every single citizen that lives here and every single citizen that comes to visit in this 250th year.”
on securing Washington D.C. during its 250th anniversary year
“We cannot afford to shoot down cheap drones with $2 million missiles. And we ourselves must be able to field large quantities of capable attack drones,”
on the Pentagon prioritizing cheap drones over expensive missile defenses
“The operation underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere,”
“I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.”
“An entire generation of generals and admirals was told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘Our diversity is our strength.’ …They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQI+ statements,”
“Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
“As we gather here today, the War Department is seeking a historic generational investment of $1.5 trillion for American warriors. And Lindsey himself said to me in his office, ‘This is the best military budget I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress.’ End quote,”
“This department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute than Congress could give than to invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion,”
“You want to stand up here and talk about the troops? You won’t show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can’t actually commit to anything meaningful.”
“They’ve opened their borders in many cases, defunded their militaries, and opened their welfare state, and you’ve got a flood of refugees that a lot of countries have had challenges dealing with,”
on European countries' border and welfare policies enabling refugee flows
“It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”
on testosterone treatment Hegseth is pushing despite VA's past struggles with it
“If you, an American warrior, entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it, you should. But we will not force you, because your body, your faith, your convictions are not negotiable.”
“The crime rate here has dropped in staggering amounts, and the media won’t want to admit it because, of course, they’d have to give credit to President Trump, and then they’d have to give credit to the Department of War or to Stephen Miller.”
“These ingrates will fade away. They’ll go back to wherever they came from. You will do your job, and you will do it professionally, with courage, boldly, assisting with arrests, helping people who need help,”
on Hegseth telling National Guard troops to ignore protesters and continue their duties
“Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones. Unless you’re training, or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn’t carry. You couldn’t bring your own firearm for your own personal protection,”
on Hegseth ending the policy barring troops from carrying personal firearms on bases
“Their true objective is unmistakable: to seize veto power over the operational decisions of the United States military," Hegseth said. "That is unacceptable.”
on barring military contractors from working with Anthropic over autonomous-weapons limits
“Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit,”
“Strong families equal strong formations… and if your family’s not taken care of that, then it causes hesitation and complications for the warfighters up front… If that warfighter knows that their family is good to go, they will go the extra mile, which is what our nation asks,”
on Hegseth's wife leading a new Trump commission for military spouses and families
“restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”
on testosterone screening claiming fitness restoration without evidence
