Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, during a meeting with the President and the rest of the cabinet, cheered the Department of Defense’s “recruiting Renaissance” following their inheritance of Joe Biden’s “weak” and “demoralized” military.
“What we have seen since your election and the inauguration has been nothing short of a recruiting Renaissance,” Hegseth told the President. “It has been decades since we’ve seen this kind of recruiting in the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force. The men and women of America want to join the United States military, led by President Donald Trump.”
In February, Hegseth’s first full month as Defense Secretary, every single branch of the military met or exceeded recruitment goals for that month. Notably, the army exceeded its goal by 15%!
This is what happens when you allow our warfighters to DO THEIR JOBS. pic.twitter.com/DlXAEI1m5s
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) April 26, 2025
Previously, as the Gateway Pundit reported, Hegseth and the Army announced that they achieved 15-year highs in recruitment levels in December and January. Trump didn’t even take office until January 20, and Americans were already signing up to serve under his administration.
“He’s my least controversial person,” the President joked as he introduced Hegseth to say a few words.
Hegseth opened his remarks, saying, “Well, Mr. President, I think we’re controversial because we’re over the target.”
Hegseth has faced countless attacks from the anti-Trump leftist media.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, after the firing of three former Pentagon officials — Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll—for unauthorized leaks, the New York Times published a story with four anonymous sources claiming that Hegseth shared sensitive information.
The Pentagon swiftly and forcefully denied these allegations, with Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell labeling the story as “fake news” driven by disgruntled former employees with clear motives to sabotage Hegseth and Trump’s agenda.
Fake News NPR also ran a hit piece on Hegseth and said the White House is looking to replace him as Defense Secretary.
“It’s just fake news,” President Trump told reporters last week. “You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing. You don’t always have friends when you do that.”
Hegseth showed exactly why he’s under attack during the cabinet, championing his historic recruitment levels and expansion of the Department of Defense to assist in border security.
WATCH:
Hegseth: Well, Mr. President, I think we’re controversial because we’re over the target. And like so many things, Mr. President, you inherited a demoralized military that couldn’t recruit, that was perceived as weak after what happened in Afghanistan and elsewhere because of Joe Biden.
And what we have seen since your election and the inauguration has been nothing short of a recruiting Renaissance. It has been decades since we’ve seen this kind of recruiting in the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force. The men and women of America want to join the United States military, led by President Donald Trump.
Trump: And the police, by the way, and fire, I always mention the fire, but the police and fire, but the police and fire, likewise are— I mean, they have waiting lists now, and six months ago was a disaster.
Hegseth: Truly historic. We can barely absorb the volume and retention as well– men and women in the military who don’t want to get out now that they have a real commander in chief. We’re reinforcing standards. We’re going to be fit, not fat, in our formations.
Welcome back all the COVID, the folks who were forced out because of the COVID mandate, ripped wokeness out of the military, Sir. DEI, trans, and it’s Fort Benning and Fort Bragg again at the DOD.
We’re rebuilding the military, Sir, the Golden Dome is well underway. The F-47, reassuring allies and deterring enemies. We found nearly 6 billion in DOGE savings that we’re going to reinvest, including $50 billion from the Biden administration focused on things like climate that have nothing to do with lethality and war fighting.
And we will have, as you said, Sir, the first trillion dollar budget that we plan to spend wisely on behalf of our war fighters. From day one, Sir, we’ve helped get 100% operational control of the border.
Coming alongside DHS and CBP, we’ve got 11,000 troops on the border, who now, because of the new national defense area, sir, can help detain illegals at the border and hand them over to CBP It used to be if you saw camouflage on the border, they could hold binoculars, and that’s it. Now we can detain and assist, and we are. We’re going to get 100% operational control that border.
Our NATO allies are know they have to step up. The Houthis in the Middle East are feeling the weight of American power, and we’re deterring Communist China. So, because of your leadership, sir, I believe we’re making the military great again. Thank you.
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