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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is "welcome astatine the Pentagon," telling reporters successful Stuttgart, Germany, during his archetypal overseas travel astatine the helm that the Department of Defense (DoD) volition besides beryllium reviewing U.S. subject posture globally to relationship for antithetic "strategic assumptions" betwixt President Donald Trump and erstwhile President Joe Biden.
Upon arriving astatine the office of U.S. European Command and Africa Command, Hegseth did push-ups, dead-lifts and different PT exercises with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) – a motion the secretary, a combat seasoned himself, said was meant to interact with the troops straight and perceive astir their missions, alternatively than solely communicating done four-star generals.
Taking questions from reporters afterward, Hegseth, who has vowed to reconstruct the "warrior ethos" astatine the Pentagon, addressed however Trump has called connected NATO members to walk 5% of their GDPs connected defense. Asked if the U.S. should besides walk that amount, Hegseth said helium and Trump stock the presumption that U.S. defence spending should not spell beneath 3% GDP, adding that the existent medication ought to walk much than the Biden administration.
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Hegseth accused the Biden medication of having "historically underinvested successful the capabilities of our military," adding that Trump is committed to "rebuilding America's subject by investing."
Asked if he expects Elon Musk to commencement unilaterally slashing defence programs, Hegseth described the DOGE person arsenic a "great patriot funny successful advancing the America First agenda" who knows "Trump got 77 cardinal votes successful a mandate from the American people, and portion of that is bringing existent businesslike ratio to government." Hegseth spoke of a "partnership" with DOGE to trim Pentagon waste, agreeing with Musk's appraisal that it could beryllium to the tune of "billions" of dollars.
But the caput stressed that spending astatine the Pentagon did not equate to the "globalist agendas" pursued by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
"As I said connected societal media, we invited Doge to the Pentagon," Hegseth said. "And I anticipation to invited Elon to the Pentagon precise soon. And his squad moving successful collaboration with us."
Hegseth said, "There are discarded redundancies and headcounts successful office that request to beryllium addressed. There's conscionable nary doubt. Look astatine a batch of the clime programs that person been pursued astatine the Defense Department. The Defense Department is not successful the concern of clime change, solving the planetary thermostat. We're successful the concern of deterring and winning wars. So things similar that."
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"There's plentifulness of places wherever we privation the keen oculus of DOGE, but we'll bash it successful coordination," helium added, pointing to imaginable changes successful weapons procurement programs arsenic well. "We're not going to bash things that are to the detriment of American operational oregon tactical capabilities… President Trump is committed to delivering the champion imaginable military."
"The Defense Department is not USAID," Hegseth said. "USAID has got a batch of problems that I talked astir with the troops – pursuing globalist agendas that don't person a transportation to America First. That's not the Defense Department. But we're besides not cleanable either. So wherever we tin find billions of dollars, and he's close to accidental billions wrong the Defense Department, each dollar we save, determination is simply a dollar that goes to warfighters. And that's bully for the American people."
Hegseth was besides asked if determination were plans to displacement U.S. forces from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to absorption connected the Chinese threat.
"There are nary plans close present successful the making to chopped anything," Hegseth said. "There is an knowing that we're going to reappraisal unit posture crossed the world."
"President Trump's readying assumptions are antithetic successful galore ways, oregon astatine slightest strategical assumptions, than Joe Biden's," helium said. "We surely don't privation a program connected the backmost of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. And what happened connected October 7th and the warfare that was unleashed successful Ukraine. You person to negociate and mitigate those things by coming alongside your friends successful Israel and sharing their defense, and peacefully resolving the struggle successful Ukraine. But those shouldn't specify however we orient."
On his determination to reverse Biden's 2023 renaming of Fort Liberty backmost to Fort Bragg, Hegseth said, "It means Bragg is back. It means the bequest of an instauration that generations of Americans person mobilized done and served astatine is back."
"I ne'er called it Fort Liberty due to the fact that it wasn't Fort Liberty. It's Fort Bragg. And truthful I was honored to beryllium capable to enactment my signature connected that," Hegseth said. The North Carolina base’s archetypal namesake was Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general, but Hegseth said it would present beryllium named aft Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II leader who earned the Silver Star and the Purple Heart for his courageousness during the Battle of the Bulge.
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