Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was challenged over why the president is no longer demanding unconditional surrender from Iran as the conflict in the Middle East remains at a stalemate.
The president launched the war with messages of hope for the Iranian people and calls for them to take back the country from the regime, but as the war has gone on, the president has shifted his stance and is struggling to make a peace deal.
The defense secretary was questioned over the president’s yielding demands on Tuesday during his press briefing at the Pentagon.
While Hegseth has stacked the Pentagon press corps with more MAGA-friendly outlets, the line of questioning came from James Rosen, Chief Washington Correspondent for Newsmax.
“On the first day of this conflict, President Trump addressed the Iranian people and said, ‘When we’re finished, take over your government. It’ll be yours to take.’ And then on the seventh day of the conflict in a Truth Social post, the president said, ‘There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’ What happens to that pledge to the Iranians?” Rosen asked.
“And when did the president decide to capitulate on his demand for unconditional surrender?” he added.
Hegseth was quick to push back on the president’s shift over the past few months.
“The President hasn’t capitulated on anything. He holds the cards,” the Pentagon chief insisted. " We maintain the upper hand, and Project Freedom only strengthens that hand."
The Trump administration has struggled since the beginning to outline its clear goals and objectives with its attack on Iran.
The president has gone from claiming in March that regime change has already been completed to complaining that the leadership in Iran is disjointed as he struggles to reach a peace deal.
Trump has also gone from suggesting the conflict would last six weeks to claiming the U.S. already won to arguing it would be over soon.
On Monday, the president called it a “mini war” and suggested it was simply a “little detour” that was working out “very nicely.”
Hegseth argued that the objective remains consistent that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.
“He will ensure that whatever deal is made or whatever end state is reached creates ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon,” the defense secretary claimed.
He insisted that was what all the talks have been focused on and declared “what the Iranian people take advantage of after the fact is up to them.”
While Hegseth claimed the president has been very clear about that, Trump said right after launching the war, “All I want is freedom for the people.”
In his social media video in which he announced he had launched the war, Trump declared, “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take; this will be probably your only chance for generations,” and urged the Iranian people, “Now is the time to seize control of your destiny.”
But Hegseth insisted the president was never going to entangle the U.S. in “some nation-building project.” When Rosen attempted to follow up, the defense secretary quickly moved on to another reporter.
