Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to reporters outside U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon, giving more details about President Trump’s latest threat to restart bombing Iran if they don’t agree to U.S. demands. He said Iran still has a chance to make a “negotiated deal” before the U.S. launches bigger, more direct strikes than it did during the first round of “Operation Fury” in March. “Central Command will be busy tonight because, President Trump said, we will be hitting Iran hard, and we will be,” Secretary Hegseth said. “As President Trump said, you can see when someone’s trying to tap, tap, tap on a deal,” he said. “Instead, they’re going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.” “That’s not because we want to restart anything we don’t have to restart. It’s because the War Department is prepared to set the terms to ensure that we get the kind of deal President Trump expects.” “Iran has an opportunity to make a deal. That’s the point. President Trump is a dealmaker, the best in the world. He’s prepared to make that deal. Iran would be wise to take it. Otherwise, they would have to deal with the types of plans that I just had a chance to see inside CENTCOM.” “We know how much pressure Iran is under. It’s clear. We see it. We read about it. We understand it, and so do they,” he said. “They would be wise to make only the kind of deal that President Trump would accept, which is a great deal.” After that opening statement, Hegseth took questions:

REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, two questions on Iran. With this latest response from Iran last night, have they not clearly violated the ceasefire? Have you underestimated Iran’s military resolve? Why do you keep going back to trying to hit the same targets? And furthermore, you just mentioned- PETE HEGSETH: Who said we were going back to hit the same targets? Haven’t you been targeting? Most of their shots, by the way, missed and were shot down by us. So their efficacy and their ability to actually strike is incredibly diminished. And thankfully so. Our air defenders are incredible, and the capabilities we have are incredible. No one said anything about restriking. We’re hitting additional targets. You re-service them when you have to, but ultimately we know exactly what we’re hitting and why, and they can’t stop us in that capacity, which means they’re going to be less able to see and sense the things they want to be aware of. REPORTER: And then furthermore, you just mentioned you’re going to plan to hit them and strike them hard tonight. If the response is in hitting bridges, electrical infrastructure, how would that not be a war crime, potentially targeting civilian infrastructure? PETE HEGSETH: Precisely the kind of disingenuous question that I’m used to from the media, impugning the motives of the folks on our side who are incredibly professional and incredibly effective. We will hit them hard, on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have. Again, they can’t do that to us meaningfully the way that we can to them. But we’re also clearly signaling to them: You have a choice. You have a choice in the way that you respond, and you have a choice with the negotiation. Our incredible negotiating team in Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and the vice president, the president, Marco Rubio, the whole team, are prepared to make a great deal that would benefit Iran. They choose not to, and as a result, they’re going to meet the United States Central Command again tonight in the way the president laid out clearly. REPORTER: So in the event that the Iranians don’t come to the table, and they keep playing games, and they refuse to make a deal, how certain are you on our targeting ability to immediately find and finish off and execute every remaining senior leader within the Islamic Republic of Iran and IRGC? PETE HEGSETH: Well, let’s just say this command has used the ceasefire wisely and with great efficiency to ensure that we are refining our intelligence and target sets in a way that are far, far beyond even the beginning of Epic Fury. And that’s a part of what I had a chance to see today. So when you see the commencement of Epic Fury, if a conflict were to have to recommence, our ability to target, our ability to sense, our ability to see, our ability to get into networks has only been vastly improved – vastly improved over time. So that’s certainly what the commanders relayed to me. So the historic success of Epic Fury would only be built upon, whether it’s personnel, locations, capabilities, you name it. And again, remember, Iran doesn’t have a defense industrial base, and what they have is extremely limited, meaning they don’t have the ability right now to make more missiles or make more drones. What they have is what they have, and if they’ve dug it out, we’ll strike it again if we need to. So we know the terms, and we’ve always got more capability to bring. REPORTER: Secretary, last night the U.S. hit nearly 20 targets inside Iran. Will today’s strikes be bigger? And what can you tell us about the status of the wounded Apache pilots who went down yesterday? PETE HEGSETH: The Apache pilots are in good shape. What they did bringing that thing down was incredible. It was just class-A work by great Americans who are incredibly skilled. People don’t realize this is a contested environment, as we’ve noted. We’re running ships through. Iran doesn’t really know how to see them or how to sense them. So they’re doing well, in good spirits, and we’re grateful for everything they’ve done to protect the shipping and our interests in the process. What was your first question? REPORTER: The strikes tonight. Are they going to be bigger, more strikes than last time? PETE HEGSETH: We’re not in the business of revealing what we’re going to do or not going to do, but ultimately what we do tonight is going to advance our military interests and also enhance our diplomatic position. Again, President Trump, he’s willing to go back and fight as necessary, but has given Iran an open hand to make this deal. It’s right there. They have that chance. They’re choosing to play games. They’re choosing to tap. If they want to tap, then the president will turn to the War Department. If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs. And we’re very good at it. Nobody better in the world. Again, we’re in lockstep with the White House, in lockstep with the negotiating team, to make sure we set the conditions, and the targets tonight are meant to do that. REPORTER: Just a follow-up. I know we spent half the day at Gitmo with you. There are still currently 15 prisoners there, mostly Islamic jihadists. Given Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s detailed confessions to orchestrating 9/11 and other al-Qaeda plots, why has the United States government chosen to keep him alive and comfortable at Gitmo for decades, along with these other Islamic jihadists, instead of executing them and delivering justice for the 3,000 victims of 9/11 and the other service members who lost their lives in the war on terror? PETE HEGSETH: I appreciate the question. There’s a reason we started the day down at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in SOUTHCOM. It’s because we want to make sure Cuba understands that the United States’ capabilities are robust. It’s right in our neighborhood. The Monroe Doctrine is in full effect, and we’re going to be prepared to defend with all the capabilities we need there, but also everything the War Department can bring to bear. So my message was clear there, and it was great to be with the Marines and others, do a little PT, see how fired up they are about their mission down there. But listen, I’ve written extensively about it. These Gitmo detainees should have been executed, in my mind personally, a long time ago for the crimes of what they committed against the American people. Unfortunately, the gears of American justice got gummed up all the way back to when I was a guard at Guantanamo in 2004, 2005. I was one of the guards, one of the exterior guards, a small part in the first attempts on these trials that were just starting. There was a lot of hope: Hey, we might be able to try these guys swiftly for the crimes they’ve committed against the United States of America. And then whether it’s international groups or lawyers and the things on top got layered on top, and it all got stuck. We’re committed to the death penalty in that case and in any others. REPORTER: We don’t have any expedited, though, because it’s been over two decades. PETE HEGSETH: Whatever we can do, we’ll do. But I share your frustration. REPORTER: Also on Cuba, you mentioned earlier today about Cuba trying to procure weapons, potentially for other countries and the threat that might pose. Can you expand on that? PETE HEGSETH: Just a warning. Cuba is 90 miles away. No country should live under the threat of those kinds of capabilities across from you. REPORTER: You talking about WMDs? PETE HEGSETH: Well, I’m not going to tell you everything about what I know. There’s classifications about things we know that we don’t share with the press, which is why we’re careful about press credentials at the Pentagon. There’s a lot of things that the American people and the public don’t necessarily need to know. All I know is, 90 miles away from our shores, we shouldn’t be tolerating any other country putting systems there. Just think about what you know. We see it playing out in CENTCOM. When you have weapons that can range like that, it creates factors you have to deal with. So our message to Cuba is: Don’t get into that game. Don’t get into the game when you’re threatening Americans or the American homeland, because that won’t go well for them. REPORTER: Clearly, you must believe that there’s a risk that Russia or China- PETE HEGSETH: There’s always a risk. There’s always a risk, right? And we’re monitoring the entirety of the globe. I’m not speaking to any specific intelligence. I’m just acknowledging the fact that there’s a lot of pressure on the regime in Cuba right now, and rightfully so. They have big decisions that they should make, and sometimes leaders make the wrong decision when there’s pressure on them. We would encourage them not to go in that direction, which only creates the kind of threat the United States may have to deal with. And we have all the options we need in that situation. REPORTER: How long would a U.S. military operation take to remove the communist regime in Cuba? And what would happen, per se, and how long would it take to reestablish order if President Trump were to decide to do a capture/kill operation with Miguel Diaz-Canel like he did with Maduro? PETE HEGSETH: All I would say is options, options, options. Our job is to present options at different scales depending on where the commander-in-chief and the president of the United States wants to go. Capture and kill is still an option. We’ve got options all over the map, just like we’ve got lots of options in CENTCOM. That’s our job. Our building literally plans for a living. Besides the Pentagon, no one plans better than United States Central Command. So, to kind of bring it back home to why we’re here, those options are on the table. The president expects us to be strong and resolute with the way that we respond and bring firepower, and we will certainly do that if need be.

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