Pete Hegseth Says Americans Are ‘Biggest Adversary We Face’ in Iran War

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted American citizens who criticized the Trump administration’s war with Iran.

“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth, 45, said during his opening statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, April 29.

The former Fox News host added, “Defeatists from the cheap seats, who two months in, seek to undermine the incredible efforts that have been undertaken and the historic nature of taking on a 40-year threat with the courage no other president has had.”

President Donald Trump and Hegseth have come under fire since the war in Iran began in February. The cabinet member, who was called to discuss the Defense Department’s nearly $1.45 trillion budget request for 2027, was instead grilled about the president’s claims of success in Operation Epic Fury.

“We’re two months into a historic military success in Iran, and you want to call it a defeat, and it’s defeatist Democrats like you that cloud the mind of the American people and would otherwise fully support preventing an Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he said to Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Sen. Jack Reed fired back at Hegseth, saying, “I am concerned that you have been telling the president what he wants to hear instead of what he needs to hear. Bold assurances of success are a disservice to both the commander in chief and the troops who risked their lives based on them.”