Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put on his best tough-guy face as he met with sailors and Marines off the coast of Puerto Rico.
In a video shared on X, Hegseth delivered a chest-thumping message aboard the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship, telling troops that “it’s not if, it’s when” they’re deployed, and that “narco terrorists and drug traffickers are on notice.”
The video, overlaid with soaring patriotic music, ends with a sign-off from the “U.S. Department of War”—President Donald Trump’s new name for Hegseth’s department.
Hegseth’s arrival in Puerto Rico comes as the Trump administration ramps up tensions around the Caribbean Sea region in its fight against international drug cartels.
Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of letting drugs be smuggled into the U.S., which Maduro has denied.
The administration has also been accused of committing a war crime after 11 people were killed in a U.S. airstrike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela.
“You’re trained, you’re prepared, you’re ready, and you’re lethal. And the American people are counting on you to ensure the American homeland is kept safe,” Hegseth says in the clip.
“So I charge you: It’s not if, it’s when, you’re on mission. Narco terrorists and drug traffickers are on notice. You will no longer allow the poisoning of the American people, and the full power of the American military—used precisely, with a clear mission—will be used to ensure the American people are kept safe.”
Hegseth leaned into the military look for his visit, donning aviators, a camo-colored shirt and hat, and even a pilot’s helmet while greeting service members on deck.
Trump is pushing to rename the Department of Defense, although the change still needs to be approved by Congress.
The White House says the administration will begin using “Department of War” as a “secondary title” in official correspondence and public communications while seeking congressional approval to make the change permanent.
Hegseth will also get a new title, “secretary of war,” if the changes are approved.
His trip to Puerto Rico to tell sailors and Marines that they are essentially being prepared for deployment—which would be paid for by taxpayers—arrived after the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., has seen troops being used for gardening duties and trash collection on the streets of the capital.
The White House had to take the embarrassing step to delete a video it posted on social media promoting Hegseth’s new secretary of war title after exaggerating his military record.
The video suggested Hegseth, who served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard with active-duty deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, had received a Bronze Star medal for valor. However, Hegseth had actually received two Bronze Star medals for meritorious service, according to Associated Press journalist Konstantin Toropin.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has been increasing its military presence in the southern Caribbean amid rising tensions with Venezuela, including deploying 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rico airfield to carry out anti-drug cartel operations, Reuters reported.
Vice President JD Vance gave a candid and telling response to outrage over the alleged drug boat attack, with one critic suggesting that the killing of foreign civilians “without any due process is called a war crime.”
“I don’t give a s--t what you call it,” Vance told liberal commentator Brian Krassenstein on X.
