Transcription
[Applause]
Well, good morning everybody. I am so happy to be here today and so thrilled to be able to swear in our new Secretary of Defense. We are honored to have him.
Now, before we do that, I have to say a few words of appreciation. First, of course, to the President of the United States for nominating a person who is respected and adored by the war fighters. This is the Secretary of Defense who will stand up for the men and women that we send overseas to fight our nation's wars. I think a lot of them feel that they haven't had somebody who's had their back. That will change because the President of the United States nominated this guy, and we are grateful to President Trump for doing so.
I also want to say thank you to my Senate colleagues. It turns out we couldn't spare one, and all of you did an incredible job. In particular, my dear friend Roger Wicker, thank you for shepherding Pete through the committee. Roger did a great job.
In addition, all of the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who I know gave Pete the vetting and the hearing that he deserved. I'm glad that we all ultimately decided that the President's nominee for Secretary of Defense ought to be our actual Secretary of Defense.
We're here today to say one final thing. If you look at what has separated President Trump from so many of the people who came before him, it is the view that, number one, we should be sparing in how we deploy our most precious resource, which is the men and women who are willing to put on the uniform and put their life on the line for this country. We shouldn't send them everywhere.
But two, when we do send them anywhere, we ought to empower them with the tools necessary to fight and win quickly and come home afterwards. That is what sets this Administration apart, and that's what Pete Hegseth represents.
Now finally, I, of course, have to thank the nominee himself. Pete, thank you for being willing to put yourself out there. I think you've shown yourself to be a man of deep character and of resolve over the last few months.
Jennifer, thank you for standing by our new Secretary of Defense, and your beautiful family—from your kids to the extended family. You guys did a hell of a job. We're proud of you, and we're glad to have you in Washington as we work to make America great again.
So with that, let me administer the oath of office. Kids, come on up.
All right, put your hand on the Bible, raise your right hand, and repeat after me:
I, Pete Hegseth,
I, Pete Hegseth,
do solemnly swear,
do solemnly swear,
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States,
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States,
against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
that I take this obligation freely,
that I take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,
and that I will well and faithfully discharge
and that I will well and faithfully discharge
the duties of the office on which I am about to enter,
the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
So help me God.
So help me God.
Congratulations, Mr. Secretary. All praise and glory to God. His will be done, and we're grateful to be here.
As I said in my hearing, it was Jesus and Jenny. I would not be here without you, sweetheart. Thank you so much.
I want to thank the President of the United States, our Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump. We could not have a better Commander-in-Chief than him. It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you.
We look forward to having the backs of our troops and having your back in executing peace through strength, in putting America first, and in rebuilding our military.
Mr. Vice President, thank you for breaking the tie. It's not the last time or the first time. The headline reads, "Junior enlisted Marine bails out Junior Army officer."
Some people were saying, "Well, 50-50, that's too tight." Senator Mark Wayne Mullen was nice enough to take my kids up to the gallery to watch the actual moment that the Vice President sealed the deal. They came running in and said, "Dad, instead of being sad about 50-50, 51-50, they said, 'Dad, you won in overtime.'" That's the perspective I like, so thank you.
Throughout this process, Mr. Vice President, thank you for being incredible. I also want to thank the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and so many members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We became fast friends in this process—the advice, the consent, the wisdom, the guidance.
I look forward to working with all of you and other Senators to ensure the Defense Department has what it needs, that our nation has what it needs, and that we're prepared to defend it in all moments.
To my staff, amazing staff who stood with us this entire process, I see so many of you. Through thick and thin, we used to look at the betting odds every once in a while on this. It was low at one point—never do that—but we defied them.
There were so many folks on the inside and then allies on the outside who stood by us every single moment, and we are eternally grateful for that.
I want to thank the war fighters. I want to thank the men and women wearing the uniform. I've said this before when I speak, and I mean it. Every time I stand at a podium and there's bright lights and cameras, the first thing that goes through my head are the guys that I served with on the battlefield—the men and the women who I locked shields with and put my life on the line with—who never get the spotlight, who never have the cameras, who people don't know what they did in dark and dangerous places.
But I know, and at the Pentagon, we're going to remember, and we're going to know, and we're going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make.
We will put America first. We will bring peace through strength, and the three principles I talked about are what we will bring to that Pentagon: restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence.
We don't want to fight wars; we want to deter them, as you said. We want to end them responsibly, but if we need to fight them, we're going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.
[Applause]
To my other family that's here as well, who I love, it's the honor of a lifetime. I would be remiss if I didn't note one person in this room who doesn't expect to be recognized, but Captain RJO is here.
He was my company commander on my first deployment in Guantanamo Bay. He was there on June 3, 2003, when I first swore in as a second lieutenant at Princeton University, and he swore me in. I wanted to make sure he was here today with me as well. Thank you very much.
So, Mr. President, thank you very much. To the American people, we have your back. We're going to get to work right away. God bless you all.
[Applause]
All right, I guess that's it. Any questions?
Why should women in our armed services trust him?
Let me answer that for the new Secretary. All people in our armed services should trust him because he looks out for them, and he's going to fight for them.
He's going to make sure that we have the kind of military that we can all be proud of, and that again, when we send it to do a job, we do it well, we do it quickly, and then we get the hell out. That's what Secretary Hegseth is going to bring to the Department of Defense.
Anything else?
Are you worried about any other nominees coming?
As we saw with, you know, as I learned with the Buckeye guys just a week ago, when you win the championship, you don't give a damn what the score was. We won the championship on this one. We've got a great Secretary of Defense. We're proud of him, and he's going to do a great job.
Thank you all. Take care.
[Applause]