'A FARCE': Hegseth BLASTS impeachment effort, takes questions

[0:05] Well, good morning. I'll get right to it. What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting [0:12] is not oversight, and it's not accountability. It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto [0:20] driven by ego and resentment. Time for one man's final days in Congress to try to do damage [0:26] to this president, this country, and most irresponsibly, the warriors who defend it. [0:33] It's a farce, and it's a stunt, and everybody knows it. In the 250 years of our American [0:43] Republic, no secretary of war or secretary of defense has ever been impeached for carrying [0:50] out lawful military operations. And in our case, successful ones at that, not once. War powers [1:00] resolution or not, not under Reagan in Lebanon, not under Clinton in Kosovo, not under Obama [1:06] in Iraq and Syria, not under Biden in Iraq and Syria. That's the standard. The history [1:13] is clear, and it's very straightforward. And one disgruntled congressman wants to shred [1:19] it over policy disagreements. That's what it is, policy disagreements. Not high crimes, [1:27] not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended [1:33] when they wrote the impeachment clause. The proper remedy for a policy disagreement, [1:38] it's legislation. It's debate. It's the next presidential election. It's not handing the [1:44] House and Senate floor to the Democrats so that they can run a show trial against the president [1:51] and the secretary of war while Republicans still control Congress and should be delivering wins [1:57] for the American people. You see, we've seen this show before. They impeached President Trump [2:04] over a perfect phone call. They impeached him again in his final week in office. Both times, [2:10] they failed. Both times, he came back stronger. And the American people sent him back to the White [2:16] House. Now they're trying a third time, this time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again. [2:24] And if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I'll take that company every day of the [2:31] week. Let's be clear about what this resolution actually does. It tells our enemies, Iran, the [2:38] cartels, every adversary watching that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and [2:45] its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. It tells [2:51] them that a single rogue legislator loaded with personal animus for the president can attempt to [2:58] veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief. It puts a target on [3:05] the backs of American warriors by signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real [3:11] time. This is not patriotism. This is sabotage. You know, five years ago, America was humiliated in [3:20] Kabul, Afghanistan, and every enemy on earth took notice. But somehow, as the president pointed out [3:27] yesterday, no impeachment vote for Lloyd Austin for that terrible withdrawal. Not even one vote. [3:35] Or no impeachment vote for when he went AWOL for over a week. No impeachment vote for when he let a [3:41] Chinese spy balloon fly over the country for over a week. See, President Trump ended that kind of [3:47] wokeness and weakness. Peace through strength, not as a slogan, but as a way of war. The Houthis found [3:56] out first. They fired on American ships. Biden had let it happen. President Trump said no more. [4:02] Operation Rough Rider hit them more than a thousand times. They cried, uncle, and they stopped shooting [4:08] at our ships to this day. Iran found out next. Operation Midnight Hammer. B-2s from the heartland [4:16] halfway around the world, straight into Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. Flawless. The largest and most [4:23] successful B-2 strike in American history. Nuclear sites obliterated. Later in Operation Epic Fury, [4:31] by every measure, we achieved a historic military victory. Under 40 days of sustained combat. More [4:39] than 13,000 targets struck. Their navy sunk. Their air force grounded. Their defense industrial base [4:45] gone. More than 80 percent of their nuclear industrial base gone. Their military in ruin. The ironclad [4:54] blockade. Unbroken. We control the Strait of Hormuz. Crazy Islamists in Tehran will never ever have a [5:02] nuclear weapon. A historic effort only made possible by a courageous commander-in-chief. History will judge [5:11] the Iran war quite differently than conventional wisdom right now. We didn't start this war. Iran did [5:18] 47 years ago. But President Trump is willing to do what no other president would. He did the tough [5:25] right thing. Not for politics, but for the safety and the security of the American people. That's [5:32] leadership. He did not kick the can. He kicked their teeth in. For generation, my generation, fought other [5:42] Middle Eastern wars that dragged on for years, for decades. We lost thousands, thousands of Americans. [5:51] I wear the bracelet of one of them on my left wrist every single day. It reminds me. And may I remind [6:02] you, for perspective, we lost 60,000 Americans in Vietnam over 20 years. We lost 37,000 in Korea [6:15] in just three years. That many humans are lost on the front lines of Ukraine and Russia every month. [6:24] This, this epic fury, has never been that. And it never will be. The media can just never admit the [6:34] military success because they, you, hate the president more than you love our country or our [6:42] troops. Then in our own hemisphere, we started at home. From day one, President Trump made homeland [6:48] security national security. We sent American troops to lock down the southwest border and choked off the [6:54] cartel pipeline of human smuggling of drugs and death. And then we took the fight to them. The [7:02] cartels thought they could just poison the American people and hide from justice. So we formed a [7:07] counter cartel coalition, designated them terrorists and hunted them at sea and now on land. More than 70 [7:16] narco vessels sunk. 218 narco terrorists dead where they should be. Maritime smuggling down at least 65% [7:26] and dropping even further. Thousands of American lives saved with every drug boat sunk and every [7:34] shipment prevented. Indicted and wanted, Nicolas Maduro thought he was untouchable. He was not kidnapped. [7:45] He was brought to justice by America's best. Victory in one night. Victory in 48 minutes to be precise. [7:53] And today he sits in front of an American judge in New York City. Flawless success. Panama kicked [8:01] China's Belt and Road Initiative to the curb and we, along with them, control the canal. The message is [8:08] simple. This is our hemisphere. Act accordingly. Our NATO allies, after decades of riding on the American [8:16] taxpayer in Europe, committed to 5% of GDP for their own defense. Our allies are finally stepping up. [8:25] Out with being a burden, in with burden sharing. Why? Because President Trump demanded it. America is [8:33] the only country on earth and this military, the only one that could successfully, could successfully [8:38] execute and lead all of these operations and efforts. Sheer success. Victories in both Venezuela [8:46] and Iran. Energy security in our hemisphere in a way none thought possible for a generation and no [8:54] nuclear bomb for Iran ever. But of course, security doesn't come free. Nobody was lost in the mission [9:02] in Venezuela, but 18 Americans have given their lives in Operation Epic Fury. We know their names. [9:09] I've been to Dover. We honor them every day, but their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve. As it happens, [9:18] tomorrow is Veterans Day. This year, the operators of Absolute Resolve and the warriors of Epic Fury [9:24] will mark it for the first time. They stand shoulder to shoulder with the pilots of Midnight Hammer [9:30] and the sailors of Rough Rider who went before them. They answered the call. They executed. They won. [9:38] And on the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. [9:49] Their service was not a crime. These are heroes. And no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise [9:56] while I hold this office. President Trump gave this department what it has not had in a generation. [10:03] A commander in chief with the courage to lead and the resolve to win. I stand behind every one of these [10:10] operations. I was proud to execute them and I would do it again tomorrow. And while this defeated [10:18] politician, defeated ironically by a Navy SEAL, I might add, while this defeated politician drafts [10:25] articles of impeachment, we've delivered the first increase and a big one in hostile fire [10:30] and imminent danger pay in more than 20 years. We've reinstated over 600 service members who were forced [10:36] out under the previous administration's COVID mandate. All five of our services broke historic [10:42] recruiting records. The Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Space Force, the Marines for two years in a row. [10:48] In fact, the Marines in FY27 met half of their goal on day one. Americans are lining up to serve in [10:55] President Trump's Department of War. And by the way, to those Marines and all those Marines out there, [11:00] Semper Fi and happy 251st birthday today. Two years of historic recruitment after Biden couldn't recruit [11:11] anyone. Same with retention, by the way, through the roof. That means the troops that are in are staying [11:16] in the best of the best based on merit staying in night and day from Biden to Trump. We cut [11:24] unnecessary senior officer billets by 20% and raised combat performance standards. Through the one big [11:29] beautiful bill, we're investing in troop pay and housing and health care and advanced weapons and [11:34] equipment our warfighters actually need to win. That's the record. That's what we're defending. Make no [11:44] mistake about what is happening. This is not about me. Politicians in Washington have accused the sailors [11:52] and the pilots who struck narco terrorist boats of war crimes for doing their job. Senators in cute [12:02] videos have suggested the same. This resolution is the next step. Put the secretary on trial today [12:11] and the men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow. If they want to come for the warriors, [12:18] they're going to have to come through me. As for the articles themselves, Iran, the cartels, Maduro, [12:30] Yemen, everyone was a lawful operation ordered by the commander in chief, then ordered by myself, [12:37] notified to Congress and executed by American warriors who did their jobs. We destroyed terror [12:43] regime's capabilities. We sank the boats carrying poison into our communities. We put a narco dictator [12:50] in handcuffs. These are not high crimes. This is the job and it's the job well done. For the first time [13:00] in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America's military is being attacked not for losing [13:08] conflicts with our enemies, but for winning them. Condemned not for defeat, but for military victory. The [13:17] disgruntled congressman even admitted this himself yesterday. No failure here, just impeachment for [13:26] success. As to the claim that the American military targets civilians, well, that is a lie and that is [13:33] a slander against every professional who flew, sailed and fought on these missions. The only people [13:40] who target civilians are the terrorists that we hunt. And I will dignify this claim no further. None of [13:47] these are high crimes or misdemeanors. They're partisan policy disagreements from people who want to [13:53] politicize our military. We will not apologize for putting American lives first. We will not apologize [14:02] for stopping the flow of drugs that kill our citizens. We will not apologize for destroying the [14:07] capabilities of a regime that chants death to America. And if that regime makes one wrong move, [14:15] as the president said, we remain locked and loaded with the full weight and lethality of central command. [14:22] We will not apologize for restoring a military that recruits based on merit, restores real standards, and [14:30] fights to win. These resolutions are a farce. They mock the constitution, they attack the chain of command, [14:38] and they criminalize the warfighters who execute lawful orders. This process hands our adversaries a [14:45] propaganda victory and waste the time of Congress that should instead be focused on protecting the [14:51] American people. We will continue to do the job the American people elected President Trump to do, [14:57] protect this country, defeat our enemies, and rebuild a military worthy of the warriors who wear [15:03] the uniform. I pray each day, and I hope you do too, for our troops. They are the best of our nation. [15:13] Like the president, I will defend them with every fiber of my being every single day. That includes [15:21] having their back no matter what. So to the troops, as I've said before, don't blink. Ignore the noise. [15:30] Never hesitate. This is all politics. You do real things. Stay the course. May almighty God protect them [15:41] always. And may our actions today and every day bring glory to him. We will stand, we will fight, [15:51] and we will defend this republic against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And amen. And with that, [16:01] I'll take a few questions. Alexander, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Excuse me. [16:07] There's been some reporting of the IRGC rearming in this interim period of ceasefire that has proliferated [16:14] behind the blockade. And the president has signaled that we may not resume kinetic operations. [16:21] So my question is, how will the IRGC remain degraded per the Epic Fury objectives if we are not [16:28] resuming this kinetic activity? And then how confident are you in maintaining nuclear degradation of Iran? [16:34] We can maintain oversight and nuclear degradation, as the president has talked about. [16:39] We're able to maintain oversight and visibility of those nuclear sites. And if we saw the kind of [16:43] nefarious activity that required action, we would take it. The president has made it clear about what [16:47] we can see from space and what we can read on their name tapes. So we will watch that on a lot of levels [16:53] very, very closely. As far as the blockade is concerned, it's been ironclad. Nothing has gotten [16:57] through. When you can't fund your energy economy, you have to make very difficult choices. And when you [17:02] combine that with almost no defense industrial base and a limited nuclear industrial base and the damage [17:08] that was done before that, their ability to reconstitute is much less than ours. So we know they'll [17:13] attempt to. This is the number one, the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, committed [17:19] to terrorism. They built tunnels and caves and all. We know that they're going to attempt to [17:23] reconstitute. We know that we are in a much stronger position nonetheless going forward. Absolutely. Yes. [17:28] Mr. Secretary, David Zier, Real America's Voice. How does it make you feel and what kind of message [17:34] does it send to our allies in the counter-cartel coalition when our own politicians don't support taking [17:41] out the narco-traffickers that kill their own constituents? And these countries joined us even [17:48] after, almost a year after the boat strikes commenced. And they are on board with us. [17:53] These countries that joined the America's counter-cartel coalition, the ACCC, [17:58] didn't just join us and they didn't join us reluctantly. They joined us proudly and boldly [18:02] and quickly because what they saw first was leadership from the president. They saw a president [18:08] reestablishing the Monroe Doctrine, the Trump corollary. We will both stop narco-terrorists in [18:13] our hemisphere and expel malign foreign influence. That's what these countries have wanted. They just [18:18] haven't had the leadership and they haven't had capabilities. So when they saw us taking the lead [18:21] with Southern Spear on the drug boats, when they saw the operation with Nicolas Maduro, they saw what we [18:26] were capable of on the blockade around Venezuela, they said, we want in on that. That's American leadership. [18:32] We don't want China and Russia and Iran dominating our hemisphere. We'd rather have America be our [18:37] defense partner and commercial partner of choice. And so the counter-cartel coalition has grown very [18:43] quickly because of that. But you're onto an important point also. When our politicians want to play [18:49] political games insinuating that our troops may be committing war crimes or they're not following the [18:54] law when everything has been lawful from day one, they start to sow doubt or attempt to sow doubt. And [19:01] that's the same kind of doubt they want to sow inside our partners of the ACCC as well. If you [19:06] go after these cartel members in your country, maybe someone will go after you later. And so [19:10] we're working really hard with these countries to prevent that kind of lawfare, to make sure they [19:15] can get after these drug cartels that have decimated their communities. And it's the one wonderful thing [19:22] about the ACCC is it's mutually beneficial. They get to save their countries and take their streets back. [19:27] We get to prevent drugs and gangs from coming to our country. Both sides win in that dynamic. [19:32] I really appreciate that question. Thank you, sir. It sounds like you feel [19:36] confident in the president's support. Is that accurate? And as another one, how do you feel [19:41] about Stephen Miller becoming the new chief of staff? Are you looking forward to working with him in that [19:44] capacity? I let the president speak for himself and I'm grateful for his support. We've never had a [19:49] better commander in chief full stop. I get to watch him every single day. He lives and breathes America first. [19:55] And it's the honor of a lifetime to be his secretary of war. Any day he'll have me, [19:59] I'll be right here at this podium. As far as Stephen Miller's concerned, [20:04] he is an incredible American patriot and a great friend of this department. [20:08] We wouldn't have an ACCC in America's counter cartel coalition without Stephen Miller. [20:12] We wouldn't have a secure southwest border for 18 months without what Stephen Miller has enabled. [20:17] So we've got no better friend at the Department of War than Stephen Miller. He'll be a fantastic [20:22] chief of staff. He understands the president's agenda. He will stand. He will fight and defend [20:28] this republic. And we're proud to be right there with him all the way. Absolutely. Yes. [20:31] Chuck Schumer said yesterday that he wants to put you on trial. Are you expecting this in the next [20:38] Congress? And I mean, what's that going to look like when Democrats take control? [20:42] I mean, what it's it's what happens when you put people with ideological agendas in charge [20:48] of institutions? If they want to talk about America's or excuse me, President Trump's foreign [20:53] policy and national security record, let's do it. I'll see you there. Let's have a conversation [20:58] about the success that I outlined here, which for partisan reasons they want to take issue with. [21:03] But the the ability for America to project power and ensure security, the American people has never [21:08] been better than it is right here today. And I can tell you, if you walk inside our formations, [21:12] and I've encouraged many of you to do that, you talk to the troops. They feel more empowered, [21:16] more enabled, more backed than than they ever have. So if you want to talk about that, talk [21:21] about our recruiting success, talk about the the military operations that we've undertaken [21:26] successfully, I'd welcome that conversation, no doubt. Mr. Secretary, Vice President J.D. Vance says [21:35] the Iran war was a major reason why the Republicans lost in the midterms. Do you agree? I respect the [21:41] Vice President greatly, and I'm certainly not going to exchange any finger pointing. And thankfully, [21:45] politics is not really my thing. I do the Department of War, making sure we're prepared and ready. [21:50] So a lot of people are going to look at the conflict and assess it. And the Vice President [21:55] has been a critical member of the team in every aspect of this. And we're grateful for all the [21:59] input he's given me personally in our department. And I think going forward, we're going to learn all [22:05] those lessons and apply them. But I agree with what the President said when he said, hey, if I had to do [22:11] this all over again, would we do it again? Absolutely. It was done for the right reasons [22:16] to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. As Marco Rubio said, I think quite well, it's not [22:22] necessarily popular, but it may have been necessary. And that's certainly how I feel it was a necessary [22:28] undertaking. Secretary Haig said a question on the impeachment effort and a question on the war. [22:36] On the impeachment effort, have you been making calls to allies on Capitol Hill to get support [22:41] during this impeachment effort? And also on the war, it's been reported that Stephen Miller pitched [22:46] himself for the job of chief of staff on the promise that he would end the Iran war. Have you spoken to [22:51] Stephen Miller about that? Well, I talked to Stephen Miller about a lot of things, [22:54] but he's busy in his new role right now. And I look forward to meeting with him soon, [22:58] in particular, about the ways that we'll work together. What was the first question again? [23:02] The first question was on the impeachment effort. Have you been making calls to Capitol Hill? [23:06] Well, thankfully, I think what people misunderstand is the depth of partnership and work that we have [23:11] done with House Republicans and Senate Republicans and others that are willing to reach across the aisle. [23:16] I mean, our Ledge Affairs team has been very active, obviously, working with Speaker Johnson, [23:20] who's done a fantastic job, and the whip, Tom Emmer. We've been in touch with a lot of [23:24] members. There's a there's a ton of support. There's also an understanding that this is one [23:29] disgruntled guy who grew up some really flimsy articles that aren't grounded and actually in [23:33] the Constitution or things that are high crimes and misdemeanors. And so whether they love everything [23:38] that's been done there, they don't want to vote for something that isn't real. So I'm grateful that [23:42] Republicans have been taking a real look at this and the Speaker has led on it. And I appreciate that. [23:47] Mike Glenn. Yes, sir. Yes. Thank you, sir. You know, the impeachment notwithstanding, [23:55] the Democrats are going to run the House and the Senate next year. Are you making any kind of moves [23:59] or any kind to to reach out to them to, you know, to try to make some sort of conciliatory piece, [24:05] you know, bite your needs for next year? I would say this again, something else that gets appreciate [24:10] the question that gets misconstrued often is that we're somehow disengaged from Capitol Hill, [24:14] that we're not briefing Capitol Hill, that we're not talking Republicans or we're not talking to [24:17] Democrats. We've got civilian leaders and uniform leaders up on Capitol Hill all the time. That has [24:23] been the case and that will be the case with Republicans and with Democrats. And right now we're [24:27] flooding the zone because this lame duck period is critically important for funding of our department. [24:33] 350 billion at a minimum for reconciliation is what we believe is needed to make a generational and [24:38] historic investment in this department, something our warfighters needs. You talk about this [24:44] circus that one congressman has tried to unleash, like that's one small thing over here that we deal [24:50] with. It's nothing compared to what we're actually engaged and dealing with, which is ensuring [24:56] operationally we're prepared all around the globe. And then we get the funding for the troops that they [25:00] need. And we're working with Speaker Johnson. We're working with Leader Thune. We're working to [25:04] all the Republicans to try to take this opportunity. We know the Democrats won't do it. Sadly, I wish they would [25:10] to take this opportunity to try to fund the troops in a way that ensures we dominate at every domain [25:16] for decades to come, which is ultimately my job. My job is not to litigate all of this every day. [25:21] It's to ensure we're funded and funded properly, which is what the president expects every single day. [25:26] Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.