Making public statements, War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s job is to inform Americans on the state of the military and its operations. Childish bluster only undermines that agenda. Hegseth might believe such rhetoric will enthuse President Donald Trump’s MAGA base, but it does not do what the Trump administration needs it to do: persuade all Americans and our foreign allies to support this war on Iran.
Hegseth’s background gives him a far better template, one of intellectual prudence and patriotism.
Unlike the vast majority of other students at Princeton University, Hegseth left the Ivy League school directly into military service. He subsequently served two tours in Iraq, including one tour as a combat infantry officer. He later volunteered for and served another tour in Afghanistan. His patriotism led him to prioritize military service over personal gain. He deserves gratitude and respect for it.
Moreover, supervising the Trump administration’s military action against Venezuela, against drug traffickers across Latin America, against Iran’s nuclear program last June, and now against the Iranian regime itself, Hegseth has earned himself a place in history. Still, whether minded toward future prospects or to future recordings of his tenure, Hegseth should recognize that bluster is a poor ally. Unfortunately, Hegseth is showing a continuing trend of making flippant remarks regarding critical military issues.
Addressing the war on Iran, this week, Hegseth has provided yet another stream of overblown rhetoric. He stated on Tuesday, “Turns out the regime who chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ was gifted death from America and death from Israel. This is not a so-called regime-change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it.”
There is a confused flippancy here. For a start, the regime change line makes no sense, being that the Iranian regime remains greatly diminished but nevertheless in power. He said that the United States was defeating Iran “decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” adding that “They are toast and they know it.” Hegseth also adopted unnecessary gallows humor toward the otherwise righteous sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine. The U.S., Hegseth added, is “playing for keeps.” Using a football metaphor, he also stated that now “the blitz is on, [the Iranian regime doesn’t] know what plays to call, let alone how to get in the huddle and call those plays.”
Although inadvertently, this casual rhetoric belies the risk to and loss of American service personnel in this conflict. Yes, it might play well with junior ranks, but it does not serve the culture of leadership that defines the best military personnel, leaders such as Hegseth’s stage partner, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is also politically risky in the same way as George W. Bush’s fateful 2003 “Mission Accomplished” aircraft carrier speech.
For one, Hegseth’s football metaphor may age very badly if the U.S. gets sucked into a prolonged attritional campaign in which hundreds of thousands of Iranian regime fanatics start literally calling the shots at the street level. And if Trump decides to order troops into Iran (which he will have to if the regime fails to give up power and instead disaggregates its forces to the local level), Hegseth might regret his rejoinder to “the fake news,” that it is not highlighting the absence of “boots on the ground.”
There’s a trend here.
In a speech to general officers last September, Hegseth engaged in a similar flippancy, which undermined his otherwise important initiatives to refocus his Department on physical fitness and warfighting. Describing the positive suspension of diversity, equity, and inclusion protocols, for example, he stated crudely, “We are done with that s***.” Similarly, last December, Hegseth posted a Franklin the Turtle parody cartoon to social media in response to criticism that U.S. strikes on drug trafficking boats are illegal. He could have simply stated the truth. Namely, that these strikes are legal for a simple reason: drug traffickers pose a clear threat to Americans that cannot be stopped at the source, absent the use of force.
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Hegseth is clearly better when he goes off script. In his press conference on Wednesday, he comfortably answered questions on Iran in relation to other global challenges. So it’s not as if he cannot function without his silly one-liners. On the contrary, those one-liners do him a disservice. Hegseth would do better by backing away from his restrictions on the media and instead engaging even with critical journalists. Sure, he’ll get some tough coverage and some unfair coverage. But he’ll also get some favorable coverage as readers and viewers realize his intellect.
The childish bluster does only a disservice to the Department of War, to Hegseth’s credibility, and to his future ambitions.