Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Speaks to the Press During an Arsenal of Freedom Tour Stop in Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Oct. 20, 2026

SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH:  Good, good, thanks for coming along. Thanks for being here for our Arsenal of Freedom Tour. And it was intentional a couple of weeks ago that we said we really need to make it to a small business that represents the incredible work that our small businesses do. And so grateful to be here to showcase, here in Wisconsin, American jobs, great paying jobs, highly skilled, tied to the cause, tied to our warfighters.

And when you talk to this company, but also so many others, there's a noticeable difference two years later. Two years ago, they were in what they call in the defense world, the Valley of Death, is there more jobs or is there business coming? Where is manufacturing going? Can we bring it back?

And now, under President Trump, it truly is a Golden Age of American manufacturing where supply chains are coming home, production is coming home. They're able to make things here and it's more high quality for us when it is, we can rely on it when it's here. And so, the Arsenal of Freedom Tour is meant to showcase that.

Thanks for coming out and sharing it with us. I think the investments we've made are paying off. It takes time to get a defense industrial base, a manufacturing base going again. And then once it does, once the American engine gets ripping, you get the Arsenal of Freedom. You get more capabilities than any other country can build. You get the rebuilding of the US military, which is what we're doing. 

And that's why reviving the defense industrial base was always one of our core pillars of the national defense strategy. You've got to have American manufacturing, you've got to have supply chains here, you need to invest in American businesses and jobs. And you know who wins? Americans, folks from Wisconsin, Minnesota where I grew up, who have good quality, high-paying jobs that are tied, in this case, to the American warfighter and the cause we have overseeing them. 

And that will allow me to transition to what I saw yesterday. I was in the Middle East, in Central Command, had a chance to visit many of our warfighters, pilots, maintainers, mechanics, refuelers, just walk the line, hear from them, talk to them. The best of America, truly. 

And the way I would describe them is resolute, resolute to ensure that, hey, we want to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. We're prepared to contribute any way necessary. We've done historic devastation to their military and military capabilities, but if they're not willing to give it up and the president asks us to go even further, we're prepared.

And so, I would say resolute and prepared was the mindset I saw. And of course, my job on behalf of the president is to make sure they have whatever they need. Should we be asked to go again, the most powerful military in the world will be prepared. So, it was always humbling to see our warfighters, who are truly the best among us, and seeing them there. 

And even get a chance to go into the MWR tent and just see them on a little bit of downtime connecting on a human level, these are just wonderful people and it's an honor to serve them. So, thanks for being here, I'll take a few questions.

Q: Thank you. A follow up on your visit to CENTCOM. What was the purpose of your meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu? And is the US coordinating with Israel potential military action against Iran or the Houthis?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: Well, as you know, we've worked with the Israeli military quite a bit, that's nothing new, we have for a long time. They have great capabilities, and we appreciate their contributions to assuring Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Of course, we were — I was there visiting our troops, had a chance to talk to the prime minister.

Of course, the nature of our conversations is not something I would talk about, but they've been good partners and I appreciate that. And I'm glad to have the Congressman here, too. So, if you've got questions for him, feel free. Navy Seal, incredible Congressman, great friend. Yes. 

Q: Secretary, I wanted to ask really quickly about the live stream for Major Nidal Hasan. Obviously, he's still going to be publicly executed in December. President Trump called off the live stream. What was your reaction to that? Are you disappointed that there won't be a live stream?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: I agree with the president; we spoke about it at length positively. We both, you know, recognize that death by firing squad is what Nidal Hasan, a terrorist, a traitor, deserves. He will get that; the families will observe it. And the point is there's a deterrent effect to that also which follows through whether it's live streamed or not. So, I fully support the president's approach, and I think it has the intended effect either way. 

Q: I think it's interesting for employees to see the impact of their work overseas. What do you hope some of the employees walk away from after speaking with you today? 

SECRETARY HEGSETH: I think you're exactly right. That was one of the cool things about today is seeing the employee, seeing the sophisticated component that they've built that no one — no other place in the country can build specifically. And then looking up and saying, oh, it goes into the F-35; oh, it goes into the TPY-2 radar; oh, it goes into this radar on destroyers. And then hearing the pride that they have in making that component. It's why we did the Arsenal of Freedom Tour. 

All across the country, there are companies that build these things; people don't make that connection. And I think young Americans, young men and women are interested in saying, wow, I can put on a hard hat and build that that contributes to what we're doing as a country. Like, there's a reservoir of that patriotism that I think we need to continue to leverage. So, pretty cool to see these skilled Americans contributing to the cause.

Thank you.

Q: What is your message to voters ahead of the midterms, especially those that maybe are a little critical of the war? What would your message be as we come up here in a couple of weeks on different questions?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: First of all, we are in a golden age and ultimately the manufacturing, the jobs and the spirit in our companies and the economy is unprecedented. We see that same spirit inside the military. Even with a great jobs market and great opportunities, we're seeing historic recruitment inside our ranks. In fact, for the first time in decades, we hit every service plus Special Forces, plus pilots, plus the National Guard, plus reserves ahead of schedule in our recruiting ranks.

So, the spirit of young Americans wanting to serve too. What a reflection, what a barometer of confidence in the president. And then to have a president who has the courage to say, Iran for 47 years has been at war with the United States of America. They've killed and maimed Americans of previous generations and of ours on the battlefield.

They cannot use conventional capabilities for a shield for nuclear ambitions and I'm going to do something about it. I want that kind of courage and conviction in my commander-in-chief. And I think the American people know that he's not going to fight wars the way we did for two — we lived those wars for two decades.

That's not how this war is unfolding, nor how it will be completed. President Trump's got all the cards here. And Iran's going to have to make a decision and, ultimately, we have a very strong commander-in-chief who will make sure this thing is decided decisively. Yes.

Q: Sir, you were in the Middle East yesterday. It's now been almost eight months since the bombing of a school in Iran which killed 120 children. What do you have to say to those families since you were in the Middle East yesterday?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: We're still — there's still an investigation ongoing. And when it's time to release it we will. Thank you.

Q: On the Patriot missiles, can you provide your perspective on if there is a hold up? Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has said a lot in recent days. I know Secretary Rubio said that it could be a supply chain issue. What's your perspective on that? Broadly speaking, does the US still want Ukraine to win the war against Russia?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: Well, as the President has said, Ukraine's had a heroic effort, and there's been a great deal of contributions. In fact, so much so under the previous administration that they emptied stockpiles that the president is making sure we refill. That's part of the Arsenal of Freedom. And not only are we not refilling, we're going even further with those stockpiles.

There's a lot of things that have been said in the press that are not true about the Department of War. We haven't changed our posture in any way toward the Ukrainians. But certainly, with things like interceptors, we want to make sure our guys have the most possible as well. So, that's — and President Zelenskyy knows that; we've had very earnest conversations with him about it. 

But I think what Marco said — what the Secretary of State said about that is spot on. Our policy hasn't changed. Ultimately, the president does want to see peace. He believes that the killing should stop. It's not necessary that it need to continue, and he wants both sides to come together on that. Any other questions or a question for the Congressman? 

Q: Secretary, Army Transformation and Contact Initiative? Talk me through the next budget cycle, are we going to see that rolled out to more National Guard units?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: Some more National Guard units? Excuse me, rolling out more of them?

Q: No rolling out Army Transformation and Contact Programs, more National Guard units?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: I think we will. The reality is, I think there are some parts of the Army Transformation and Contact that will continue, some that will not. I think some in some ways that was an austerity program too where you're divesting to invest. And what we're doing is we're generationally investing. So, we think we can make sure we're not getting rid of legacy systems before new ones are online.

But ultimately, you've seen how involved the National Guard has been in every aspect of how we fight to include air defense. And so, we've got to make sure we're plussing up those capabilities in real time, making those investments at the same time we are on the active component. And I know the Wisconsin Guard's been busy, just like a lot of states, in making that contribution. Do you have anything you want to say on that?

REP DERRICK VAN ORDEN: Wisconsin does not have a large active-duty contingent. What we do have is Fort McCoy, one of the largest reserve bases in the entire country, that is manned predominantly by our National Guardsmen and women. But we just got some folks back from the Middle East the other day. So, what the Secretary of War is doing with Congress and House Armed Services Committee, is making sure that our National Guardsmen and women have everything they absolutely need for force protection and to project power.

So, is that going to be a little expensive? Yes, it is, but we have to understand, over 30 percent of all the current deployed forces right now are reservists and National Guardsmen, and they deserve to have the weapons that an active-duty service person does, they need to be sure to have the same training equipment and manning.

SECRETARY HEGSETH: Yes, and Amen. Last one, yeah.

Q: If I could just follow up on my colleague's question. You said the US policy on Ukraine hasn't changed. Does that include Star Shield coverage? Has that been pulled back?

SECRETARY HEGSETH: We haven't pulled anything back. There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to and that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions. But nothing's changed from our view; we haven't made any directives or anything like that. And we wish the Ukrainians, obviously, success. Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.