OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:35 PM – Monday, January 27, 2025
On his first day at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed a message regarding the mission of the Department of Defense (DOD).
According to Hegseth, who was greeted by a group of reporters, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., said it was “an honor to serve on behalf of the president and serve on behalf of the country,” also noting, “The warfighters are ready to go.”
Hegseth then immediately shifted his focus to the border, recognizing that President Donald Trump was “hitting the ground running” with signed executive orders that designated cartels as international terrorist organizations while declaring an emergency at the southern border.
The DOD “snapped to” sending additional troops last week to install additional wall materials along the southern border, uplifting Trump and border czar Tom Homan’s efforts to ensure mass deportations.
“That is something the Defense Department absolutely will continue to do,” according to Hegseth.
“He’s [Trump] made it very clear. There is an emergency at the border,” Hegseth continued. “The protection of the sovereign territory of the United States is the job of the Defense Department.”
Last week, the Defense Department announced 1,500 active-duty service members and “additional air and intelligence assets” were being sent to the southern border “to augment troops already conducting enforcement operations in that region.”
After being asked whether more troops would be deployed to the border, Hegseth also added: “Whatever is needed at the border will be provided. Whether that is through state active duty, Title 32 or Title 10, because we are reorienting.”
“This is a shift. This is not the way things have been done in the past,” Hegseth said. “The Defense Department will support the defense of the territorial integrity of the United States at our southern border to include reservists, National Guard and active duty in compliance with the Constitution, the laws of our land, and the directives of the commander in chief.”
Hegseth, who served in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan, said he expected the White House to issue other executive orders later on Monday. These would include orders to halt diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts inside the Pentagon, to reinstate troops who were “pushed out” due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and to implement the construction of an “Iron Dome for America,” Hegseth noted.
“Every moment I am here I am thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers,” Hegseth stated. “Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting.”
“We hold people accountable. I know the chairman agrees with that… The lawful orders of the President of the United States will be executed in this Defense Department swiftly and without excuse. We will be no better friend to our allies and no stronger adversary to those who want to test us and try us.”
Additionally, in relation to aid for Afghans who previously collaborated with the U.S. government, the new secretary was questioned on that topic as well. In order to determine whether the payments are in line with his administration’s foreign policy, Trump issued an executive order last week that halted all U.S. international development aid for ninety days.
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