U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a rare press conference on Tuesday morning as he faced the prospect of impeachment, delivering an uncompromising and combative speech in defense of his record while excoriating his political opponents.
“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 it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” Hegseth said at the beginning of his remarks.
The impeachment effort, led by outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, largely focuses on the Defense Department chief’s central role in the Iran war but also pertains to other major military actions under his watch—including strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats near Latin America and the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Massie, who introduced eight articles of impeachment against the defense secretary on Monday, accuses Hegseth of waging war against Iran without congressional approval, abusing the powers of his office, and violating federal law and the Constitution.
The House is scheduled to hold an initial procedural vote on impeachment on Tuesday evening.
Below is the full transcript of Hegseth’s speech.—John Haltiwanger
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 it’s a stunt, 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 [former U.S. President Ronald] Reagan in Lebanon, not under [former U.S. President Bill] Clinton in Kosovo, not under [former U.S. President Barack] Obama in Iraq and Syria, not under [former U.S. President Joe] 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 [U.S.] President [Donald] 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 [former U.S. Defense Secretary] 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 1,000 times. They cried uncle, and they stopped shooting at our ships to this day. Iran found out next. Operation Midnight Hammer, B-2s from the heartland, halfway around the world, straight into Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan—flawless. The largest and most successful B-2 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 percent 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. For generations—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 narcoterrorists dead, where they should be; maritime smuggling down at least 65 percent and dropping even further. Thousands of American lives saved with every drug boat sunk and every shipment prevented.
Indicted and wanted, Nicolás 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 percent 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, 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 will mark it 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[-19] 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 percent and raised combat performance standards. Through the One Big Beautiful Bill, we’re investing in troop pay, in housing, in healthcare, in 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 narcoterrorist 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.
