Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Uses Transphobic Slur While Addressing Iowa State Fair Crowd

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used inflammatory language during an Iowa State Fair appearance this week.

According to a report the Iowa Capital Dispatch published on Monday, August 17, Hegseth, 46, made a transphobic remark while addressing changes at the Department of Defense, which has been renamed the “Department of War” under President Donald Trump‘s second term.

Speaking on diversity, equity and inclusion policies being dismantled at the department, Hegseth said, “at the Department of War, we do training, not tries,” using a slur to refer to transgender people, per the outlet.

According to the outlet, Hegseth doubled down on the department’s new direction moments later, telling the crowd, “It is a day and night difference. Training, lethality, accountability, discipline, readiness — the bedrock of what it means to be an American warrior — is the only focus of our department. Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it.”

As National Enquirer previously reported, Hegseth has made headlines before for controversial directives targeting troop health and fitness. In July, he announced on X that service members 30 and older would be required to undergo annual testosterone screenings, explaining that the military must “constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience and your long-term health.” In the same message, he added that “if treatment is recommended, it’s entirely your choice to receive testosterone replacement therapy.”

Hegseth’s Iowa remarks came during “Operation Top Nunn: Salute to the Troops,” a fundraiser hosted by Republican Rep. Zach Nunn at JR’s Southpork Ranch, benefiting veterans support organizations, as reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch. The event had originally been scheduled for March but was postponed following the deaths of two Iowa soldiers, Major Jeffrey O’Brien and Sgt. Declan J. Coady in an Iranian strike on a Kuwait facility.

Hegseth also used the appearance to rally support for Nunn’s reelection bid against Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, calling him a “trusted voice” for the military, per the report.

Trone Garriott, 48, fired back at the pair in a statement cited by the outlet: “It’s disgraceful that Zach Nunn and Pete Hegseth are partying together at a campaign stop in Iowa while our service members are under threat and facing poor conditions overseas. Our leaders should be focused on ending this war and keeping Americans deployed overseas safe, not fundraising for Zach Nunn’s campaign.”

Nunn, 47, and Trone Garriott will face off at the ballot box in November, with Hegseth’s remarks now part of the backdrop to the 2026 race.