Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to Fort Bragg troops about Trump: 'He has your back'

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke Tuesday on stage before President Donald Trump.
Posted 6/10/2025, 9:32:00 PM Updated 6/11/2025, 12:58:10 AM

Good afternoon Fort Bragg

It is Fort Bragg isn't it Let me tell you

what a privilege it was to be just a few

miles away from here watching a sheer demonstration of military

power from the all Americans

It's incredible

I wish every American could stand in that field and

watch 600 paratroopers fall from the sky after preparatory fires

and assault on the objective

That's sheer American firepower

But you know what I wish Americans could also see

What I get a chance to see every day what

other members of the cabinet get to see every day

Which is our commander in chief

President Donald Trump putting America first

It doesn't matter the situation whether he's meeting with foreign

leaders we're meeting in the Oval Office or he's talking

to soldiers

He's the same leader we know and love

He's laser focused on America first on peace through strength

and then supporting our American war fighters and vets

You know exactly where his compass is

You know exactly what he believes and when I tell

troops when we travel across the world

And I've had a chance to meet so many of

you fine Americans

What I always say the message from our commander in

chief is he has your back

That matters

Let me tell you I've been not that long ago

in shoes and boots similar to yours

And when I was going on a mission or I

was about to take part in something that was uncertain

Involve complications the fog of war all I wanted to

know

Was that my company commander battalion commander brigade commander division

commander and my commander in chief had my back when

I had to do difficult things on behalf of the

nation where politicians and air conditioned officers don't understand and

they want to second guess President Donald J

Trump has your back

So at the Defense Department we're doing 3 critical things

at his direction

Number 1 we're restoring the warrior ethos

We're getting back to basics

Standards accountability readiness training war fighting lethality we're not a

college or a university

We're not interested in your woke garbage in your political

correctness

We're war fighters who close with and destroy the enemy

on behalf of our nation when we come home to

those we love because we don't fight because we hate

what's in front of us

We fight because we love what's behind us

That's what makes the American soldier different

So we're restoring the warrior ethos back to basics

We're also rebuilding our military

We'll have the 1st $1 trillion dollar budget

You will have the best equipment in your hands to

stare down the enemy from multi-billion dollar platforms to the

best rifles to the best equipment to hypersonics and drones

and fighters and jets ships and carriers everything you need

President Trump will make sure you have

We're rebuilding the military after 4 years of deferred maintenance

And finally we're re-establishing deterrent

Our allies know that we stand with them

And our adversaries know what we are capable of doing

to them

So that we can maintain peace through strength

President Trump seeks peace

He wants peace

So do I

So do you for our families for our kids and

our grandkids

But those who long for peace must prepare for war

and that's something the eighty-second Airborne America's 911 does every

single day

So it's an absolute honor to be your twenty-ninth Secretary

of Defense

You have my pledge that every single day our focus

is on you and your mission and having your back

And you're about one minute away from hearing from your

commander in chief President Donald Trump

God bless you and God bless our nation