Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered this update on the war with Iran during a cabinet meeting on Thursday. “The morale of their fighters is plummeting,” he said. “They’re privately admitting, as you said, Mr. President, very heavy losses.” “President Trump has given us a clear mission. Our capabilities are only going up, and Iran’s are plummeting. We are here to win, and we’re full speed ahead,” he said. To lead negotiator Steve Witkoff, Hegseth said: “We appreciate your efforts. We pray for a deal, and we welcome a deal, and we have the ultimate dealmaker to make it happen.” “But in the meantime, as I said yesterday, the Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs. War is negotiation by other means.”

SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: I’ll start kind of where you left off, Mr. President. Thank you for doing the work of the free world and having the courage to step up and stop the Iranian terror regime from holding the world hostage. That’s really what it is. And 27 days ago, Iran had a modern military. Never in recorded history has a nation’s military been so quickly and effectively neutralized. Operation Epic Fury is not an endless war. It’s a decisive campaign with clear objectives: to destroy Iran’s offensive military capabilities and ensure they never obtain a nuclear weapon. This is stuff for the history books. This is stuff for legacy, Mr. President. You are acting now to ensure future generations do not have to live under the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. However, you wouldn’t know it if you listened to the dishonest, hate-Trump media, as you referenced. The folks here in the room, these cameras-they have a choice. You’re either informing the American people of the truth or you’re not. Because I hear it from my people every day. Behind every headline you write, there’s a helicopter crew in the air. Behind every news banner you write, there’s a battalion on the move. And behind every fake news story, there’s an F-35 pilot executing a dangerous mission. My message to the media is: get it right. This actually isn’t something new to me. I may be a young guy, Mr. President, but I’m not a rookie in this realm. In 2007, I helped lead the public fight for the Iraq surge. I stood and watched people stand in the Senate and declare the war is lost before it even started. Who was that? It was Harry Reid. That was the Democrats and the media working hand in glove. Back then, it was three years into a war. Now we’re three weeks into an operation. But unlike Iraq, this isn’t a tie. This is not parity. This is not chaos. This is success-pure American success, on plan and, as the president said, ahead of pace. Over 10,000 enemy targets destroyed. Over 150 naval vessels sunk. Underground facilities destroyed. The defense industrial base in shambles. And overnight-not only do they not have a navy, Mr. President-they no longer have a navy commander. The IRGC Navy commander was killed overnight in the operation. So no navy, no navy leader. Now, here’s the thing about the media, though: if President Trump had not acted, you’d be screaming, Why not? And now that he has taken decisive action, you’re asking, Why did you? It’s the same old tired playbook-TDS in your DNA. But the hardworking, God-fearing, patriotic Americans out there know better. And you alluded to this, Mr. President-President Obama. Here’s a fact you don’t hear on your networks: many of the Iranian military factories and bases that we’re systematically destroying were paid for by the pallets of American cash that Barack Obama flew into Tehran under the Iran deal. You might call it an inconvenient truth. Iran took our money and turned it into weapons and bunkers and ammo, and now we’re destroying those weapons. And you’re right, Mr. President-that’s correcting a grievous wrong. And make no mistake: we had to act, and our objectives are clear-no nukes, no navy, and a complete dismantling of their missile program and defense industrial base. And as Marco pointed out-and the vice president as well-that mission has not changed since day one. Yet two days ago, they shot two failed missiles at a target 4,000 kilometers away. For years, they told the world their missiles could only range 2,000 kilometers. Surprise-yet again, Iran lied. And to the world I say: London is 4,000 kilometers from Iran. Washington, D.C. is 3,300 kilometers from Venezuela-another country President Trump did something about, that partnered for a long time with Iran. So you’re telling us Iran is not a threat to the world or to the United States? President Trump knows better. And here’s what success actually looks like right now. You mentioned it, Mr. President-A-10 Warthogs, if you know them you love them, and Apache helicopter gunships are flying strike missions inside Iranian airspace and throughout the Strait of Hormuz at will. You only send these slow, low-flying close air support platforms when the enemy has no meaningful air defenses left. Their presence is proof that Iran’s air defenses are gone. Their command and control is shattered. The top leaders are hiding in underground bunkers while their mid-level commanders are being crushed in the field. The morale of their fighters is plummeting, and we see that disconnect daily. They’re privately admitting, as you said, Mr. President, very heavy losses. We know that. President Trump has given us a clear mission. Our capabilities are only going up, and Iran’s are plummeting. We are here to win, and we’re full speed ahead. So Steve, we appreciate your efforts. We pray for a deal, and we welcome a deal, and we have the ultimate dealmaker to make it happen. But in the meantime, as I said yesterday, the Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs. War is negotiation by other means. And finally, I want to thank our incredible troops-our pilots, crews, sailors, refuelers, air defenders-the absolute best of America, the real 1% of our country. President Trump has your back, and I know this cabinet prays for you every single day. And we ask the American people to do the same as they continue in this mission. God bless.

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