WEBVTT 00:09.619 --> 00:10.619 Mm . 00:14.270 --> 00:17.520 Well , thank you And good afternoon . 00:20.440 --> 00:22.607 You know , folks in Washington like to 00:22.607 --> 00:25.790 invoke President Reagan's name , often 00:25.790 --> 00:27.901 when they criticize President Trump . 00:28.600 --> 00:30.711 They say , or at least insinuate that 00:30.711 --> 00:32.830 Donald Trump is nothing like Ronald 00:32.830 --> 00:35.389 Reagan . They say the current 00:35.389 --> 00:37.445 president's approach is nothing like 00:37.445 --> 00:39.611 the vision championed by Ronald Reagan 00:39.611 --> 00:41.722 at the height of the Cold War , as we 00:41.722 --> 00:43.389 grappled with the Soviets and 00:43.389 --> 00:47.090 ultimately prevail . But those folks 00:47.090 --> 00:50.610 are wrong . They're dead wrong . Most 00:50.610 --> 00:53.080 who invoke Ronald Reagan's name today . 00:54.509 --> 00:57.240 Especially self-styled Republican hawks . 00:58.150 --> 01:02.130 are not much like Ronald Reagan . The 01:02.130 --> 01:04.352 policies they've championed are nothing 01:04.352 --> 01:06.352 like his . In fact , for the better 01:06.352 --> 01:09.010 part of 30 years . They've been quite 01:09.010 --> 01:12.650 the opposite . If you look at actual 01:12.650 --> 01:15.129 policies , Donald Trump is the true and 01:15.129 --> 01:17.610 rightful heir of Ronald Reagan . 01:19.480 --> 01:21.647 It's President Trump who has inherited 01:21.647 --> 01:23.424 and restored President Reagan's 01:23.424 --> 01:26.019 powerful but focused and realistic 01:26.019 --> 01:29.209 approach to national defense . It's 01:29.209 --> 01:31.320 therefore only fitting that we gather 01:31.320 --> 01:33.265 at the Reagan Presidential Library 01:33.265 --> 01:35.376 today to talk about President Trump's 01:35.376 --> 01:37.849 America first peace through strength 01:37.849 --> 01:40.730 common sense agenda and what it means 01:40.730 --> 01:44.620 at the Department of War . One 01:44.620 --> 01:46.660 need only look at the results to 01:46.660 --> 01:48.827 understand why President Trump is that 01:48.827 --> 01:51.849 rightful heir . So let's look at what 01:51.849 --> 01:54.459 Reagan and his administration actually 01:54.459 --> 01:57.730 did . Reagan rebuilt the military after 01:57.730 --> 01:59.889 Vietnam and that is rightfully 01:59.889 --> 02:01.690 considered one of his greatest 02:01.690 --> 02:03.912 achievements . President Trump has done 02:03.912 --> 02:07.410 and is doing the same , making historic 02:07.410 --> 02:11.339 investments in defense . But President 02:11.339 --> 02:14.419 Reagan also believed sincerely in the 02:14.419 --> 02:16.949 peace part of peace through strength . 02:17.990 --> 02:20.869 As his actions showed . It was not a 02:20.869 --> 02:23.036 popular thing to do at the time at the 02:23.036 --> 02:25.036 height of the Cold War , to talk to 02:25.036 --> 02:28.009 communists . Yet President Reagan did . 02:29.020 --> 02:31.131 During his high profile meetings with 02:31.131 --> 02:33.242 Mikhail Gorbachev and others , Ronald 02:33.242 --> 02:35.353 Reagan saw the prudence and potential 02:35.353 --> 02:37.020 in engaging with our nation's 02:37.020 --> 02:39.353 adversaries from a position of strength , 02:39.353 --> 02:42.479 so he did . Even in the face of fierce 02:42.479 --> 02:44.720 criticism at home , including from his 02:44.720 --> 02:48.149 own party . Now President Reagan wasn't 02:48.149 --> 02:51.039 naive , he recognized that fruitful 02:51.039 --> 02:53.150 engagements with our adversaries were 02:53.150 --> 02:54.983 only possible from a position of 02:54.983 --> 02:57.317 strength , especially military strength . 02:58.000 --> 03:00.100 Which is why he focused so much on 03:00.100 --> 03:03.029 building up the American military . We 03:03.029 --> 03:05.259 still talk about the Reagan build up . 03:06.029 --> 03:08.619 And my kids and yours will someday talk 03:08.619 --> 03:12.149 about the Trump buildup . President 03:12.149 --> 03:13.927 Reagan and his team inherited a 03:13.927 --> 03:15.630 military worn down from their 03:15.630 --> 03:17.741 generation's endless war in Vietnam . 03:18.500 --> 03:20.611 And they took the lessons of that war 03:20.611 --> 03:22.910 to heart . This is why he was so 03:22.910 --> 03:25.679 deliberate in how he used the joint 03:25.679 --> 03:28.320 force . Indeed , the most famous 03:28.320 --> 03:30.279 military doctrine of the Reagan 03:30.279 --> 03:32.001 administration , named for his 03:32.001 --> 03:34.279 Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger , 03:34.279 --> 03:37.029 was specifically designed to correct 03:37.029 --> 03:39.639 for the failures that led to Vietnam . 03:41.320 --> 03:43.153 Among other key principles , the 03:43.153 --> 03:45.470 Weinberger doctrine stipulated one . 03:46.339 --> 03:48.339 The United States should not commit 03:48.339 --> 03:50.228 forces to combat unless the vital 03:50.410 --> 03:52.577 national interest of the United States 03:52.577 --> 03:56.240 or its allies are involved . 2 , US 03:56.240 --> 03:58.460 troop troops should only be committed 03:58.460 --> 04:00.349 wholeheartedly and with the clear 04:00.349 --> 04:03.449 intention of winning . Otherwise troops 04:03.449 --> 04:06.750 should not be committed . Third , US 04:06.750 --> 04:09.070 combat troops should be committed only 04:09.070 --> 04:11.229 with clearly defined political and 04:11.229 --> 04:13.062 military objectives and with the 04:13.062 --> 04:16.109 capacity to accomplish those objectives . 04:17.160 --> 04:19.380 And 4th , the commitment of US troops 04:19.630 --> 04:22.510 should be considered only as a last 04:22.510 --> 04:25.640 resort . This is sound stuff . 04:26.459 --> 04:28.570 And it was reflected in how President 04:28.570 --> 04:30.459 Reagan actually used the American 04:30.459 --> 04:32.292 military , namely in a focused , 04:32.450 --> 04:34.769 decisive manner and only when he 04:34.769 --> 04:36.936 determined that it was in our nation's 04:37.010 --> 04:40.109 vital interest to do so . In fact , 04:40.230 --> 04:42.008 throughout his time in office , 04:42.008 --> 04:43.952 President Reagan only committed US 04:43.952 --> 04:46.369 ground forces twice . In Grenada and in 04:46.369 --> 04:48.313 Lebanon , otherwise he focused the 04:48.313 --> 04:50.799 joint force on the Cold War era threat 04:50.799 --> 04:54.410 and priority theater . Soviets in 04:54.410 --> 04:57.049 Europe . That's how President Reagan 04:57.049 --> 04:59.216 achieved peace through strength always 04:59.216 --> 05:02.679 with a clear eye toward lasting peace . 05:04.350 --> 05:06.294 Suffice , suffice it to say Ronald 05:06.294 --> 05:08.779 Reagan's disciplined , focused and 05:08.779 --> 05:12.109 realistic approach was a far cry . From 05:12.109 --> 05:14.619 the grandiose nation building , 05:14.750 --> 05:17.350 moralistic , and rudderless wars that 05:17.350 --> 05:20.190 many of his self-described acolytes led 05:20.190 --> 05:22.190 us into in the decades after Reagan 05:22.190 --> 05:26.059 left office . Wars my generation 05:26.059 --> 05:29.179 fought in . Indeed it's only under 05:29.179 --> 05:31.401 President Trump's leadership during his 05:31.401 --> 05:33.623 first term and now that we've been able 05:33.623 --> 05:35.679 to restore America's greatness after 05:35.679 --> 05:37.846 years of suffering under the so-called 05:37.846 --> 05:40.420 bipartisan consensus . Which is really 05:40.420 --> 05:43.980 just a euphemism for disastrous foreign 05:43.980 --> 05:47.459 policy . Out with utopian 05:47.459 --> 05:51.140 idealism . In with hard-nosed 05:51.140 --> 05:54.559 realism . To be specific , Ronald 05:54.559 --> 05:56.781 Reagan taught us the value of focused , 05:56.781 --> 05:59.003 powerful leadership , but his so-called 05:59.003 --> 06:01.003 disciples didn't heed that lesson . 06:01.619 --> 06:03.508 Since the end of the Cold War , a 06:03.508 --> 06:05.220 generation of self-proclaimed 06:05.220 --> 06:07.980 neo-Reaganites have touted Reagan's 06:07.980 --> 06:11.339 name . But didn't govern like him , all 06:11.339 --> 06:13.339 the bluster , none of the clarity . 06:14.149 --> 06:16.760 That's especially true in the military 06:16.760 --> 06:18.760 realm . This generation of 06:18.760 --> 06:20.880 self-proclaimed neo-Reaganites 06:20.880 --> 06:23.970 abandoned Reagan's actual wise policies . 06:24.660 --> 06:27.329 In favor of unchecked neoconservatism 06:27.329 --> 06:30.489 and economic globalism . In economics , 06:30.500 --> 06:32.769 they dismantled our industrial base , 06:32.820 --> 06:35.170 shipping it overseas at the same time 06:35.170 --> 06:37.281 in diplomacy and defense , they swore 06:37.281 --> 06:39.448 off the clear-eyed flexible realism of 06:39.448 --> 06:42.059 Reagan , Nixon , and Eisenhower . 06:43.010 --> 06:45.121 Instead they set about trying to make 06:45.121 --> 06:47.343 America the policeman , the protector , 06:47.343 --> 06:49.066 the arbiter of the whole world 06:49.066 --> 06:51.989 democracy for all , they say , even in 06:51.989 --> 06:55.019 the Pesh River Valley . Even when 06:55.019 --> 06:57.075 people don't want it , can't do it . 06:57.940 --> 06:59.959 They turned American allies into 06:59.959 --> 07:02.579 dependents . All but encouraging these 07:02.579 --> 07:04.635 nations across Europe and around the 07:04.635 --> 07:06.779 world to free ride while we subsidize 07:06.779 --> 07:09.329 their defense with US taxpayer dollars . 07:11.049 --> 07:13.079 The self described neo-Reaganites 07:13.079 --> 07:16.239 sought global military . Hegemony . 07:16.980 --> 07:18.980 Under the auspices of peace through 07:18.980 --> 07:21.549 strength . Instead , we got rudderless 07:21.549 --> 07:23.660 wars in the Middle East , land war in 07:23.660 --> 07:25.993 Europe , and the economic rise of China . 07:27.130 --> 07:29.730 After presiding over such a poor 07:29.730 --> 07:33.079 performance . It's remarkable that 07:33.079 --> 07:34.912 these people still think they're 07:34.912 --> 07:37.109 qualified to speak in public . Let 07:37.109 --> 07:40.089 alone moralize to the rest of us . Some 07:40.089 --> 07:42.649 of them have even been awarded for it 07:42.649 --> 07:44.529 on this very stage . 07:46.470 --> 07:48.980 But President Trump knows better . He 07:48.980 --> 07:51.140 knows what it means to restore peace 07:51.140 --> 07:53.362 through strength on an enduring basis . 07:54.109 --> 07:57.209 To put our nation's interests first and 07:57.209 --> 08:00.410 the American people first in a way that 08:00.410 --> 08:03.450 is practical , applicable , and common 08:03.450 --> 08:07.089 sense that leaves importantly America 08:07.089 --> 08:09.480 better but also leaves our allies 08:09.480 --> 08:12.250 better off . It's the vision that he 08:12.250 --> 08:14.480 ran on and led on in his first term , 08:14.890 --> 08:17.168 and he's building on it now in his 2nd . 08:17.940 --> 08:20.579 In it's a vision , not the quasi 08:20.579 --> 08:22.801 imperialist delusions that led us to so 08:22.801 --> 08:24.968 many disasters in the recent decades . 08:25.510 --> 08:28.000 That will actually bring us back to the 08:28.000 --> 08:31.880 true legacy of Ronald Reagan . Out 08:31.880 --> 08:34.489 with utopian idealism in with 08:34.489 --> 08:37.640 hard-nosed realism . Just look at the 08:37.640 --> 08:39.879 facts . Like President Reagan , 08:39.958 --> 08:42.014 President Trump is dedicated to both 08:42.014 --> 08:44.014 sides of the piece through strength 08:44.014 --> 08:46.180 coin . Not just using that phrase as a 08:46.180 --> 08:48.809 thin veil for warmongering . In less 08:48.809 --> 08:50.698 than a year , President Trump has 08:50.698 --> 08:52.920 secured 8 major peace deals , including 08:52.920 --> 08:55.210 a historic end to the war in Gaza , and 08:55.210 --> 08:58.099 he's not finished yet . Even as we 08:58.099 --> 09:00.377 speak under the president's leadership , 09:00.377 --> 09:02.432 we are working tirelessly to end the 09:02.432 --> 09:04.929 tragic war in Ukraine . A war that 09:04.929 --> 09:07.040 never would have started in the first 09:07.040 --> 09:09.390 place if he had been present . The 09:09.390 --> 09:11.309 world sees an entirely different 09:11.309 --> 09:13.909 America today . These historic 09:13.909 --> 09:15.687 opportunities for peace are not 09:15.687 --> 09:19.010 happening by chance . It's President 09:19.010 --> 09:21.409 Trump's vision and determination . 09:22.880 --> 09:25.859 Like President Reagan . President Trump 09:25.859 --> 09:28.539 is willing to talk to rivals . From 09:28.539 --> 09:30.830 Mikhail Gorbachev to Deng Xiaoping in 09:30.830 --> 09:32.859 the 1980s to Vladimir Putin and Xi 09:32.859 --> 09:36.440 Jinping today . This is born 09:36.440 --> 09:39.859 of strength . Not weakness , it is born 09:39.859 --> 09:42.539 of clarity of purpose folks in 09:42.539 --> 09:44.706 Washington like to criticize President 09:44.706 --> 09:46.872 Trump for doing so , but those critics 09:46.872 --> 09:49.095 forget that this is exactly what Ronald 09:49.095 --> 09:52.619 Reagan did . And America was better off 09:52.619 --> 09:55.210 for it . Like President Reagan , 09:55.320 --> 09:57.042 President Trump also knows how 09:57.042 --> 09:59.200 important it is to negotiate from a 09:59.200 --> 10:01.520 position of strength , especially 10:01.520 --> 10:04.349 military strength . And at the newly 10:04.349 --> 10:07.400 renamed Department of War . Thanks to 10:07.400 --> 10:09.640 President Trump's leadership and to 10:09.640 --> 10:12.369 Congress . We received a historic boost 10:12.369 --> 10:15.229 in funding last year and believe that 10:15.229 --> 10:17.229 is only just the beginning . 10:19.150 --> 10:21.206 Make no mistake about it , President 10:21.206 --> 10:23.317 Trump is hell bent on maintaining and 10:23.317 --> 10:25.859 accelerating the most powerful military 10:25.859 --> 10:28.469 the world has ever seen , the most 10:28.469 --> 10:31.229 powerful , the most lethal , and 10:31.229 --> 10:34.979 American made . The arsenal of 10:34.979 --> 10:37.820 freedom . We're also restoring the 10:37.820 --> 10:39.770 warrior ethos back to basics , 10:39.780 --> 10:42.058 readiness , accountability , standards , 10:42.058 --> 10:45.309 discipline , lethality . I'm not sure 10:45.309 --> 10:47.253 if you saw , but I recently gave a 10:47.253 --> 10:49.420 speech on that topic to a few generals 10:49.630 --> 10:53.270 in Quantico . The War 10:53.270 --> 10:55.437 Department is the sword and the shield 10:55.437 --> 10:57.710 of peace through strength . We are the 10:57.710 --> 10:59.969 strength department . And we stand 10:59.969 --> 11:02.650 ready to wield that sword as President 11:02.650 --> 11:06.140 Trump directs . The opposite 11:06.409 --> 11:09.369 of peace through strength is war 11:09.369 --> 11:13.369 through weakness . Wokeness , weakness , 11:13.580 --> 11:17.090 and war , all specialties of Joe Biden 11:17.090 --> 11:20.179 and Lloyd Austin . The debacle in 11:20.179 --> 11:22.346 Afghanistan , a stain on our country , 11:22.369 --> 11:24.647 and a sin committed against the troops . 11:25.309 --> 11:27.365 The weakness that unleashed Islamist 11:27.365 --> 11:30.659 war against Israel on October 7th . And 11:30.659 --> 11:32.548 that same weakness invited war in 11:32.548 --> 11:35.080 Ukraine . And Vladimir Putin saw the 11:35.080 --> 11:38.409 open door and took it . Spy balloons 11:38.409 --> 11:40.989 flying over our country and sect deaths 11:40.989 --> 11:44.469 going AWOL for a week . Wokeness 11:45.299 --> 11:48.909 Weakness War You know , I was 11:48.909 --> 11:51.989 recently tempted when the discussion uh 11:51.989 --> 11:55.109 went out about hitting drug boats to 11:55.109 --> 11:58.080 use the phrase . Righteous strike . 11:59.590 --> 12:01.809 But then my team counseled me against 12:01.809 --> 12:03.976 it said , sir , that's the phrase that 12:03.976 --> 12:07.429 was used by Mark Milley . When the 12:07.429 --> 12:09.869 family , when a family of Afghans was 12:09.869 --> 12:11.980 struck as a response to what happened 12:11.980 --> 12:14.147 at Abbey Gate , they called it for two 12:14.147 --> 12:16.147 straight days of righteous strike . 12:16.179 --> 12:18.401 When they would have known within hours 12:18.401 --> 12:19.929 exactly what they struck . 12:21.799 --> 12:24.520 Weakness , wokeness , war . 12:26.289 --> 12:29.450 It's a new day With Operation Midnight 12:29.450 --> 12:31.729 Hammer , the world saw after decades of 12:31.729 --> 12:33.969 hemming and hawing , the decisive 12:33.969 --> 12:36.191 effect of American military strength in 12:36.191 --> 12:38.025 obliterating the Iranian nuclear 12:38.025 --> 12:40.025 program . President Trump said they 12:40.025 --> 12:41.969 can't have a nuclear bomb . And he 12:41.969 --> 12:43.802 meant it . Others have said it . 12:43.802 --> 12:45.858 President Trump did it . This was an 12:45.858 --> 12:47.969 operate this operation was a textbook 12:47.969 --> 12:50.080 example of the Weinberger doctrine in 12:50.080 --> 12:53.280 action . Decisive , focused , applied 12:53.280 --> 12:55.469 in a focused , clear-eyed way that 12:55.469 --> 12:57.950 advanced our nation's interests while 12:57.950 --> 13:00.700 avoiding another protracted war . 13:01.909 --> 13:03.965 Same goes for our limited but lethal 13:03.965 --> 13:06.131 actions against the Houthis in Yemen . 13:06.280 --> 13:08.502 Joe Biden tolerated the targeting of US 13:08.502 --> 13:11.719 shipping . President Trump restored 13:11.719 --> 13:14.270 freedom of navigation . Another 13:14.270 --> 13:16.710 foundational and core national interest 13:16.710 --> 13:19.659 somewhere Thomas Jefferson . I smiling 13:21.570 --> 13:23.681 And right now the world is seeing the 13:23.681 --> 13:25.514 strength of American resolve and 13:25.514 --> 13:27.570 stemming the flow of lethal drugs to 13:27.570 --> 13:29.570 our country . Here again we've been 13:29.570 --> 13:31.626 focused and here we've been clear if 13:31.626 --> 13:33.403 you're working for a designated 13:33.403 --> 13:35.459 terrorist organization and you bring 13:35.459 --> 13:37.681 bring drugs to this country in a boat , 13:37.681 --> 13:39.903 we will find you and we will sink you . 13:40.869 --> 13:42.770 Let there be no doubt about it . 13:43.770 --> 13:45.659 President Trump can and will take 13:45.659 --> 13:47.881 decisive military action as he sees fit 13:47.881 --> 13:50.048 to defend our nation's interests . Let 13:50.048 --> 13:52.330 no country on earth doubt that for a 13:52.330 --> 13:55.400 moment . Like President Reagan , 13:55.479 --> 13:57.701 President Trump knows how to do so in a 13:57.701 --> 13:59.701 way that is tied to a clear purpose 13:59.701 --> 14:01.868 with a decisive and credible theory of 14:01.868 --> 14:04.090 military victory just as the lessons of 14:04.090 --> 14:06.257 Vietnam informed Ronald Reagan and his 14:06.257 --> 14:09.359 Weinberger doctrine . So too the 14:09.359 --> 14:11.840 lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan guide 14:11.840 --> 14:14.909 President Trump and his secretary today . 14:16.960 --> 14:19.320 For years a bipartisan consensus of 14:19.320 --> 14:21.349 neoconservatives and liberal 14:21.349 --> 14:23.479 internationalists led us from one 14:23.479 --> 14:26.619 disaster to another . They sent our 14:26.619 --> 14:28.563 nation's sons and daughters to war 14:28.563 --> 14:31.809 after rudderless war . Even as they 14:31.809 --> 14:34.239 allowed our allies to grow weaker . And 14:34.239 --> 14:37.869 our potential rivals stronger . From 14:37.869 --> 14:40.500 the very beginning , nearly a decade 14:40.500 --> 14:42.739 ago , President Trump called this out 14:43.260 --> 14:46.260 for what it is . Stupid 14:47.669 --> 14:50.739 And America last foreign policy . 14:51.750 --> 14:53.972 And they fought him for it . They tried 14:53.972 --> 14:56.139 to jail him for it , and they failed . 14:56.580 --> 14:59.219 Well , their time is over . Their 14:59.219 --> 15:01.659 America last bipartisan consensus is 15:01.659 --> 15:04.330 done . It is finished . Under President 15:04.330 --> 15:06.359 Trump's leadership after decades of 15:06.359 --> 15:08.809 disastrous decisions by his , by this 15:08.809 --> 15:11.440 nation's self-appointed so-called 15:11.440 --> 15:14.000 foreign policy elite , we're once again 15:14.000 --> 15:16.630 putting American interests first . 15:17.760 --> 15:20.030 We're prioritizing our nation's 15:20.030 --> 15:22.141 security , freedom , and prosperity , 15:22.141 --> 15:25.400 our citizens . As laid out by President 15:25.400 --> 15:27.456 Trump , we're doing it in a way that 15:27.456 --> 15:29.678 leaves not only our nation better off . 15:30.479 --> 15:33.929 But also the world . Out with utopian 15:33.929 --> 15:37.340 realism in or out with utopian idealism , 15:37.409 --> 15:41.000 excuse me . In with hard-nosed realism . 15:42.929 --> 15:45.239 The president's approach is one of that 15:45.239 --> 15:47.719 flexible but practical realism , common 15:47.719 --> 15:49.941 sense , if you will , that looks at the 15:49.941 --> 15:52.052 world with a clear-eyed perspective . 15:52.250 --> 15:54.306 Essential for serving America's real 15:54.306 --> 15:56.528 interests . The approach is informed by 15:56.528 --> 15:59.440 strategic rationality and cost benefit 15:59.440 --> 16:01.919 assessments we will define our vital 16:01.919 --> 16:04.030 interests in ways that are reasonable 16:04.030 --> 16:05.863 and that makes sense to ordinary 16:05.863 --> 16:08.559 Americans . This is the approach and 16:08.559 --> 16:10.615 mindset that shapes the department's 16:10.615 --> 16:13.010 focus . As a result , the war 16:13.010 --> 16:15.066 department will not be distracted by 16:15.260 --> 16:17.427 democracy building , interventionism , 16:17.427 --> 16:19.419 undefined wars , regime change , 16:19.640 --> 16:22.289 climate change , woke , moralizing , 16:22.859 --> 16:26.419 and feckless nation building . We will 16:26.419 --> 16:29.450 instead put our nation's practical 16:29.450 --> 16:32.419 concrete interests first . We will 16:32.419 --> 16:35.369 deter war we will advance our interests , 16:35.380 --> 16:39.309 we will defend our people . Peace is 16:39.309 --> 16:42.340 our goal . And in service of that 16:42.340 --> 16:44.507 objective , we will always be ready to 16:44.507 --> 16:46.840 fight and win decisively if called upon . 16:47.530 --> 16:49.752 As part of this mission , we are asking 16:49.752 --> 16:51.919 American taxpayers to fund the world's 16:51.919 --> 16:53.919 greatest military . We're asking 16:53.919 --> 16:56.599 mothers and fathers across America to 16:56.599 --> 16:59.789 trust us . With their most precious 16:59.789 --> 17:01.900 resource , their sons and daughters . 17:02.729 --> 17:04.951 And we will honor their trust and their 17:04.951 --> 17:08.589 sacrifice . The historic recruiting and 17:08.589 --> 17:10.756 retention numbers of President Trump's 17:10.756 --> 17:14.020 first year show who the American people 17:14.020 --> 17:17.819 trust . This means we will not 17:17.819 --> 17:19.541 send America's best to advance 17:19.541 --> 17:21.375 foolhardy or reckless adventures 17:21.375 --> 17:23.538 halfway around the world . It also 17:23.538 --> 17:25.594 means not asking them to pick up the 17:25.594 --> 17:27.649 tab for allies who should fund their 17:27.649 --> 17:29.989 own defense . Instead and above all , 17:30.079 --> 17:32.719 it means that we only ask our warriors 17:32.719 --> 17:35.140 to fight for things that make America 17:35.400 --> 17:38.680 and Americans safe , free and 17:38.680 --> 17:42.479 prosperous . Life Liberty 17:42.739 --> 17:44.906 and the pursuit of happiness . Nothing 17:44.906 --> 17:48.650 more . And nothing less . Again , this 17:48.650 --> 17:50.650 is common sense and that's what 17:50.650 --> 17:53.170 President Trump's war department is all 17:53.170 --> 17:55.689 about . This common sense approach 17:55.689 --> 17:57.890 means prioritizing 4 key lines of 17:57.890 --> 18:00.223 effort at the Department of War . First , 18:00.223 --> 18:02.290 defending the US homeland and our 18:02.290 --> 18:04.890 hemisphere . Second , deterring China 18:04.890 --> 18:07.410 through strength , not confrontation . 18:08.469 --> 18:10.869 Third , increased burden sharing for US 18:10.869 --> 18:13.640 allies and partners . And 4th , 18:13.650 --> 18:16.510 supercharging the US defense industrial 18:16.510 --> 18:20.479 base . As we apply President Trump's 18:20.880 --> 18:23.229 approach to flexible , flexible realism , 18:23.709 --> 18:25.820 the first two lines of effort are the 18:25.820 --> 18:27.987 primary operational focus of the joint 18:27.987 --> 18:30.153 force for the simple reason that these 18:30.153 --> 18:32.265 missions matter the most for safety , 18:32.265 --> 18:34.487 freedom , and prosperity of Americans . 18:34.487 --> 18:36.431 At the same time , however , other 18:36.431 --> 18:38.376 threats persist around the world , 18:38.376 --> 18:40.709 including in Europe and the Middle East . 18:40.709 --> 18:42.931 We cannot ignore them , nor should we . 18:42.931 --> 18:44.542 That's why our approach also 18:44.542 --> 18:46.653 prioritizes burden sharing and burden 18:46.653 --> 18:48.820 shifting . Indeed , for the first time 18:48.820 --> 18:51.042 since Reagan's era , allied and partner 18:51.042 --> 18:52.780 burden sharing is no longer an 18:52.780 --> 18:55.219 afterthought or a nice to have . Today 18:55.219 --> 18:57.500 is a core element of our national 18:57.500 --> 19:00.770 defense . And finally , the 4th line of 19:00.770 --> 19:02.969 effort , maybe the most important . 19:03.790 --> 19:05.619 Supercharging America's defense 19:05.619 --> 19:09.030 industrial base underwrites everything 19:09.030 --> 19:12.369 else . Last month I gave another speech 19:12.369 --> 19:14.479 in Washington this time to defense 19:14.479 --> 19:16.209 industry leaders to announce a 19:16.209 --> 19:19.489 department wide , not reform , a 19:19.489 --> 19:21.369 transformation of requirements , 19:21.449 --> 19:23.782 acquisitions and foreign military sales . 19:24.520 --> 19:27.239 Our objective is simple if monumental . 19:28.290 --> 19:30.512 Transform the entire acquisition system 19:30.512 --> 19:32.623 to rapidly accelerate the fielding of 19:32.623 --> 19:35.689 capabilities and focus on results . 19:37.239 --> 19:39.880 The bottom line is a historic 19:39.880 --> 19:41.859 generational and transformational 19:41.859 --> 19:44.081 changes that we will implement and will 19:44.081 --> 19:45.803 move us from the current prime 19:45.803 --> 19:47.915 contractor dominated system . Defined 19:47.915 --> 19:50.081 by limited competition , vendor lock , 19:50.209 --> 19:52.640 cost plus contracts , stress budgets , 19:52.930 --> 19:56.270 and frustrating protests . To a future 19:56.270 --> 19:58.430 powered by dynamic vendor space that 19:58.430 --> 20:00.469 accelerates production by combining 20:00.469 --> 20:03.270 investment at a commercial pace with 20:03.270 --> 20:05.599 the uniquely American ability to scale 20:05.599 --> 20:09.310 and scale quickly , all at the speed of 20:09.310 --> 20:13.239 urgency . That speech stands on 20:13.239 --> 20:15.550 its own . So I'll spend the balance of 20:15.550 --> 20:17.606 my time here talking about the other 20:17.606 --> 20:19.661 three lines of effort , the first of 20:19.661 --> 20:21.883 which are defending the US homeland and 20:21.883 --> 20:23.994 hemisphere . The Biden administration 20:23.994 --> 20:25.939 was more concerned about Ukraine's 20:25.939 --> 20:27.994 borders than our own . They tried to 20:27.994 --> 20:29.883 make it controversial to say that 20:29.883 --> 20:32.050 border security is national security , 20:32.050 --> 20:34.869 but that is of course absurd . Border 20:34.869 --> 20:37.189 security is national security and we 20:37.189 --> 20:40.800 are prioritizing it accordingly . Since 20:40.800 --> 20:42.633 January 20th at the direction of 20:42.633 --> 20:44.856 President Trump , the Department of War 20:44.856 --> 20:46.911 has made it a top priority to defend 20:46.911 --> 20:49.359 our nation's borders , to get 100% 20:49.359 --> 20:51.839 operational control of that border . We 20:51.839 --> 20:54.040 did so by surging forces where our 20:54.040 --> 20:57.630 troops partner with DHS and CBP to seal 20:57.630 --> 21:01.500 the border . Under Joe Biden , tens 21:01.500 --> 21:04.459 of millions of illegals . And we have 21:04.459 --> 21:07.410 no idea where the hell they came from 21:07.410 --> 21:09.660 or where the hell they are flowed 21:09.660 --> 21:11.930 across our border . Not to mention 21:11.930 --> 21:13.986 lethal narcotics responsible for the 21:13.986 --> 21:15.874 death of hundreds of thousands of 21:15.874 --> 21:18.170 Americans . Today , the number of 21:18.170 --> 21:21.640 illegals crossing into our country is 0 . 21:23.140 --> 21:25.362 We are saving lives and communities and 21:25.362 --> 21:28.630 we are keeping it that way . We're also 21:28.630 --> 21:30.686 proud to support our law enforcement 21:30.686 --> 21:32.352 partners as they conduct mass 21:32.352 --> 21:34.630 deportations of dangerous illegals who 21:34.630 --> 21:37.479 have no business being in our country . 21:38.829 --> 21:40.773 We'll secure the border in part by 21:40.773 --> 21:42.996 organizing training and equipping units 21:42.996 --> 21:44.773 specifically for border defense 21:44.773 --> 21:46.940 missions , including operations in the 21:46.940 --> 21:49.060 land , maritime and air domains 21:49.420 --> 21:51.476 alongside our interagency partners . 21:51.476 --> 21:53.364 We're also leaning on our Mexican 21:53.364 --> 21:55.364 counterparts to do more . They have 21:55.364 --> 21:57.364 made progress and we'll need to see 21:57.364 --> 22:00.420 more and quickly . And so far in this 22:00.420 --> 22:02.476 administration nobody has built more 22:02.476 --> 22:04.939 new border wall . Than the Department 22:04.939 --> 22:08.469 of War . But our borders shouldn't be 22:08.469 --> 22:10.358 the first line of defense for the 22:10.358 --> 22:12.525 American homeland . They should be the 22:12.525 --> 22:14.636 last line of defense . And that's why 22:14.636 --> 22:16.691 we're prioritizing our fight against 22:16.691 --> 22:18.413 cartels throughout the Western 22:18.413 --> 22:21.260 Hemisphere . You could just look at the 22:21.260 --> 22:24.390 news . Not all of the news . 22:26.390 --> 22:28.057 The days in which these narco 22:28.057 --> 22:30.670 terrorists Designated terror 22:30.670 --> 22:32.670 organizations operate freely in our 22:32.670 --> 22:35.430 hemisphere are over . These narco 22:35.430 --> 22:37.374 terrorists are the al Qaeda of our 22:37.374 --> 22:39.597 hemisphere and we are hunting them with 22:39.597 --> 22:41.708 the same sophistication and precision 22:41.708 --> 22:44.300 that we hunted al-Qaeda . We are 22:44.300 --> 22:46.780 tracking them we are killing them , and 22:46.780 --> 22:48.836 we will keep killing them so long as 22:48.836 --> 22:50.780 they are poisoning our people with 22:50.780 --> 22:52.613 narcotics so lethal that they're 22:52.613 --> 22:55.979 tantamount to chemical weapons . We're 22:55.979 --> 22:58.146 not doing this on our own . Throughout 22:58.146 --> 22:59.923 our hemisphere , our allies and 22:59.923 --> 23:01.923 partners recognize that these narco 23:01.923 --> 23:04.146 terrorists threatened them as well . So 23:04.146 --> 23:06.090 we're working together , sometimes 23:06.090 --> 23:08.090 overtly , sometimes not . And we'll 23:08.090 --> 23:10.312 keep doing so for the sake of a safer , 23:10.312 --> 23:12.630 secure , and more stable hemisphere for 23:12.630 --> 23:15.359 all of us . But make no mistake , where 23:15.359 --> 23:17.880 a country cannot or will not do its 23:17.880 --> 23:20.102 part , then we at the Department of war 23:20.102 --> 23:22.213 will always be ready to take decisive 23:22.213 --> 23:25.250 action . In this hemisphere , in our 23:25.250 --> 23:28.369 hemisphere , there is no safe haven for 23:28.369 --> 23:31.520 narco-terrorists . Securing the border 23:31.520 --> 23:33.520 does not mean we're losing sight of 23:33.520 --> 23:35.298 other critical homeland defense 23:35.298 --> 23:37.242 missions . On the contrary , we're 23:37.242 --> 23:39.076 doubling down . One of the first 23:39.076 --> 23:41.131 executive orders signed by President 23:41.131 --> 23:43.187 Trump was for the creation of Golden 23:43.187 --> 23:45.131 Dome for America . A revolutionary 23:45.131 --> 23:47.076 approach to defend our nation from 23:47.076 --> 23:49.076 advanced aerial threats , and we're 23:49.076 --> 23:51.353 accelerating efforts on that right now . 23:51.920 --> 23:54.031 And Golden Dome will produce tangible 23:54.031 --> 23:56.198 protection for this country inside the 23:56.198 --> 23:58.309 time frame of this administration and 23:58.309 --> 24:00.910 beyond . President Reagan promised SDI 24:00.910 --> 24:02.632 strategic Defense Initiative . 24:03.250 --> 24:05.528 President Trump's doing the same thing . 24:05.528 --> 24:07.583 Now the tech is caught up and we can 24:07.583 --> 24:09.528 actually build the golden dome for 24:09.528 --> 24:11.939 America , a game changer . At the same 24:11.989 --> 24:14.211 time , we're also rapidly strengthening 24:14.211 --> 24:16.100 our nation's ability to deter and 24:16.100 --> 24:17.822 defend against cyberattacks on 24:17.822 --> 24:20.100 Department of war and dual use targets , 24:20.100 --> 24:21.600 including through the most 24:21.600 --> 24:23.545 comprehensive overhaul of US cyber 24:23.545 --> 24:25.656 command since it was started 15 years 24:25.656 --> 24:27.656 ago . Nor have we lost sight of the 24:27.656 --> 24:30.969 threat of global jihadism . As with 24:30.969 --> 24:33.136 narco terrorists working alongside our 24:33.136 --> 24:35.349 partners in the IC and other agencies 24:35.349 --> 24:37.405 as well as partners abroad , we will 24:37.405 --> 24:39.349 continue to hunt and kill Islamist 24:39.349 --> 24:41.516 terrorists with the intent and ability 24:41.516 --> 24:43.930 to strike our homeland . All of this of 24:43.930 --> 24:45.874 course rests upon the power of our 24:45.874 --> 24:49.229 nation's nuclear deterrent . Which is 24:49.229 --> 24:51.451 which is the foundation of our nation's 24:51.451 --> 24:53.569 defense . Nothing else matters if we 24:53.569 --> 24:55.791 don't get this right , and so we will . 24:55.989 --> 24:58.100 As President Trump has said , we will 24:58.100 --> 25:00.267 modernize our nation's nuclear triad . 25:00.479 --> 25:02.590 We will develop additional options to 25:02.590 --> 25:04.479 support deterrence and escalation 25:04.479 --> 25:06.535 management . And we will never allow 25:06.535 --> 25:08.590 this nation to be left vulnerable to 25:08.590 --> 25:10.590 nuclear blackmail , even in a world 25:10.590 --> 25:12.701 where we face two other major nuclear 25:12.701 --> 25:15.579 armed powers , and we will test nuclear 25:15.579 --> 25:18.579 weapons and nuclear delivery systems on 25:18.579 --> 25:20.939 an equal basis as others . 25:22.739 --> 25:24.850 Finally , the department's activities 25:24.850 --> 25:26.739 throughout the Western Hemisphere 25:26.739 --> 25:28.517 aren't just about killing narco 25:28.517 --> 25:28.140 terrorists , they're also about 25:28.140 --> 25:30.530 deterring and defending our nation's 25:30.530 --> 25:33.099 instance against other threats to that 25:33.099 --> 25:35.180 in the hemisphere to that end . The 25:35.180 --> 25:37.069 president will always provide the 25:37.069 --> 25:39.013 department will always provide the 25:39.013 --> 25:41.069 president with credible options when 25:41.069 --> 25:43.236 needed . That includes guaranteeing US 25:43.236 --> 25:45.347 military and commercial access to key 25:45.347 --> 25:48.189 terrain . Like the Panama Canal , the 25:48.189 --> 25:50.300 Caribbean , the Gulf of America , the 25:50.300 --> 25:53.170 Arctic and Greenland . In all instances 25:53.170 --> 25:55.226 we stand ready to work in good faith 25:55.226 --> 25:57.520 with our neighbors , but they must do 25:57.520 --> 25:59.742 their part to defend shared interests . 26:00.689 --> 26:02.979 Where they do not The War Department 26:02.979 --> 26:04.812 stands ready to take focused and 26:04.812 --> 26:07.420 decisive action that advances US 26:07.420 --> 26:11.170 interests . This is the Trump corollary 26:11.400 --> 26:13.719 to the Monroe Doctrine , recently 26:13.719 --> 26:15.880 codified so clearly in the national 26:15.880 --> 26:18.359 security strategy . After years of 26:18.359 --> 26:20.192 neglect , the United States will 26:20.192 --> 26:22.248 restore US military dominance in the 26:22.248 --> 26:24.900 Western Hemisphere . We will use it to 26:24.900 --> 26:27.560 protect our homeland . And access to 26:27.560 --> 26:30.010 key terrain throughout the region . We 26:30.010 --> 26:32.177 will also deny adversaries' ability to 26:32.177 --> 26:34.232 position forces or other threatening 26:34.232 --> 26:36.343 capabilities in our hemisphere . Past 26:36.343 --> 26:38.510 administrations perpetuated the belief 26:38.510 --> 26:40.677 that the Monroe Doctrine had expired . 26:40.869 --> 26:43.849 They were wrong . The Monroe Doctrine 26:43.849 --> 26:46.829 is in effect . And it is stronger than 26:46.829 --> 26:49.189 ever under the Trump corollary , a 26:49.189 --> 26:51.510 common sense restoration of our power 26:51.510 --> 26:54.140 and prerogatives in this hemisphere 26:54.430 --> 26:56.469 consistent with US interests . 26:59.000 --> 27:01.111 The second line of effort for the War 27:01.111 --> 27:03.278 Department is deterrence against China 27:03.278 --> 27:05.260 through strength , not through 27:05.260 --> 27:07.930 confrontation . Under President Trump's 27:07.930 --> 27:09.874 leadership , relations between the 27:09.874 --> 27:12.041 United States and China are better and 27:12.041 --> 27:13.986 stronger than they've been in many 27:13.986 --> 27:15.819 years . President Trump and this 27:15.819 --> 27:17.874 administration seek a stable peace , 27:17.874 --> 27:19.986 fair trade , and respectful relations 27:19.986 --> 27:22.041 with China . In November , President 27:22.041 --> 27:24.208 Trump and President Xi reached a major 27:24.208 --> 27:26.263 breakthrough in trade , putting both 27:26.263 --> 27:28.800 nations on a strong economic pathway . 27:29.900 --> 27:32.699 Reciprocal state visits in 2026 provide 27:32.699 --> 27:34.977 the opportunity for even more progress . 27:36.449 --> 27:38.616 The War Department is committed to the 27:38.616 --> 27:40.800 same approach , opening a wider range 27:40.800 --> 27:42.967 of military to military communications 27:42.967 --> 27:44.967 with the People's Liberation Army . 27:45.109 --> 27:46.829 Aimed at deconfliction and 27:46.829 --> 27:49.449 de-escalation . We laid the groundwork 27:49.449 --> 27:51.560 for this with our counterparts months 27:51.560 --> 27:53.505 ago at ASEAN in Malaysia and we'll 27:53.505 --> 27:56.729 continue that work . This line of 27:56.729 --> 27:58.840 effort is based on flexible realism , 27:58.890 --> 28:02.739 not naivete . An approach aimed not at 28:02.739 --> 28:04.850 domination but rather at a balance of 28:04.850 --> 28:07.319 power . A balance of power that will 28:07.319 --> 28:09.319 enable all of us , all countries to 28:09.319 --> 28:11.541 enjoy a decent peace in an Indo-Pacific 28:11.541 --> 28:14.160 where trade flows openly and fairly , 28:14.770 --> 28:16.603 where we can all prosper and all 28:16.603 --> 28:20.010 interests are respected . That's the 28:20.010 --> 28:22.288 world that we seek in the Indo-Pacific . 28:22.750 --> 28:24.583 And that is what our approach is 28:24.583 --> 28:27.680 designed to produce . We will be strong 28:28.699 --> 28:31.130 But not unnecessarily confrontational . 28:31.849 --> 28:33.738 To quote another great Republican 28:33.738 --> 28:36.130 president , we will speak softly and 28:36.130 --> 28:38.680 carry a big stick . As I said at 28:38.680 --> 28:40.736 Shangri-La earlier this year , we're 28:40.736 --> 28:42.958 not trying to strangle China's growth . 28:42.958 --> 28:44.736 We're not trying to dominate or 28:44.736 --> 28:46.847 humiliate them . Nor are we trying to 28:46.847 --> 28:49.869 change the status quo over Taiwan . Our 28:49.869 --> 28:51.780 interests in the Indo-Pacific are 28:51.780 --> 28:54.829 significant . But also scoped and 28:54.829 --> 28:57.390 reasonable . This includes the ability 28:57.390 --> 28:59.310 for us , along with allies to be 28:59.310 --> 29:01.088 postured strongly enough in the 29:01.088 --> 29:03.510 Indo-Pacific to balance China's growing 29:03.510 --> 29:06.160 power . This means ensuring none of our 29:06.160 --> 29:08.599 allies are vulnerable to sustained 29:08.599 --> 29:12.170 successful military aggression . This 29:12.170 --> 29:14.226 is what we mean by deterrence in the 29:14.226 --> 29:17.160 Indo-Pacific , not dominating China , 29:17.530 --> 29:19.586 but rather ensuring they do not have 29:19.586 --> 29:21.650 the ability to dominate us or our 29:21.650 --> 29:25.640 allies . It's common sense . In this 29:25.640 --> 29:27.696 vein , our role at the Department of 29:27.696 --> 29:30.310 War is essential . It's our job to make 29:30.310 --> 29:32.829 sure Beijing sees unquestionable US 29:32.829 --> 29:35.900 military strength that if necessary , 29:36.270 --> 29:38.326 can back up our national interests . 29:38.920 --> 29:40.880 Even as we make clear our peaceful 29:40.880 --> 29:43.239 intentions , we insist that as a 29:43.239 --> 29:46.160 Pacific nation ourselves , China 29:46.160 --> 29:48.327 respect our long standing interests in 29:48.327 --> 29:51.520 the Indo-Pacific . And not just insist , 29:52.130 --> 29:54.609 but maintain the manifest strength to 29:54.609 --> 29:58.020 underwrite it . This involves 29:58.020 --> 30:00.140 respecting the historic military 30:00.140 --> 30:02.569 buildup they are undertaking . Our 30:02.569 --> 30:04.900 department maintains a clear-eyed 30:04.900 --> 30:07.130 appreciation . Of how rapid , 30:07.239 --> 30:09.406 formidable , and holistic the military 30:09.406 --> 30:11.910 build up has been . We take these 30:11.910 --> 30:14.459 capabilities seriously . It would be 30:14.459 --> 30:16.737 silly and frankly disrespectful not to . 30:18.189 --> 30:19.939 This approach requires focus , 30:20.709 --> 30:23.042 prioritization , and clarity of purpose . 30:24.020 --> 30:26.187 That's why we will ensure our military 30:26.187 --> 30:28.900 can , if God forbid necessary , project 30:28.900 --> 30:31.067 sustained capabilities along the first 30:31.067 --> 30:32.844 island chain and throughout the 30:32.844 --> 30:34.789 Indo-Pacific . That means being so 30:34.789 --> 30:36.733 strong that aggression is not even 30:36.733 --> 30:38.456 considered . And that peace is 30:38.456 --> 30:41.810 preferred and preserved . This 30:42.300 --> 30:45.579 is deterrence by denial . It is our job 30:45.579 --> 30:47.468 to ensure that President Trump is 30:47.468 --> 30:49.246 always able to negotiate from a 30:49.246 --> 30:51.489 position of strength in order to 30:51.489 --> 30:53.930 sustain peace in the Indo-Pacific . 30:55.229 --> 30:57.589 This is not a pivot for tomorrow . It 30:57.589 --> 31:01.479 is a reality for today . And finally , 31:01.569 --> 31:03.736 our third line of effort is increasing 31:03.736 --> 31:05.791 burden sharing with US allies around 31:05.791 --> 31:08.060 the world . Here again , many self 31:08.060 --> 31:10.900 ascribed neo-Reaganites seem to have 31:10.900 --> 31:13.859 lost the plot . According to them , 31:13.930 --> 31:16.410 only the only the United States has the 31:16.410 --> 31:18.354 ability to provide for defense and 31:18.354 --> 31:20.632 deterrence in Europe , the Middle East , 31:20.632 --> 31:22.632 and the Indo-Pacific . According to 31:22.632 --> 31:24.799 them , if the United States doesn't do 31:24.799 --> 31:26.966 it , nobody will . In fact , according 31:26.966 --> 31:29.021 to some , America is actually better 31:29.021 --> 31:31.132 off subsidizing these allies defenses 31:31.132 --> 31:33.369 even if they're perfectly capable of 31:33.369 --> 31:35.689 doing more for themselves and our 31:35.689 --> 31:38.949 collective defense . That is of course 31:38.949 --> 31:41.439 patently ridiculous , not to mention 31:41.439 --> 31:44.589 insulting to our allies . It's actually 31:44.589 --> 31:46.756 vitally important for America's allies 31:46.756 --> 31:48.811 and partners to step up and do their 31:48.811 --> 31:50.978 part for our collective defense . This 31:50.978 --> 31:53.089 isn't just a matter of doing right by 31:53.089 --> 31:55.311 Americans who are rightfully frustrated 31:55.311 --> 31:57.959 by years of Allied free riding . This 31:57.959 --> 32:00.859 is pragmatic . As we rightly prioritize 32:00.859 --> 32:02.859 our homeland , hemisphere , and the 32:02.859 --> 32:05.081 Indo-Pacific , threats persist in other 32:05.081 --> 32:07.192 regions . And our allies need to step 32:07.192 --> 32:09.890 up . And step up for real . 32:11.119 --> 32:13.341 Our allies in Europe face Russia . Iran 32:13.341 --> 32:15.508 has been set back by the president and 32:15.508 --> 32:17.619 Israel's actions but remains a threat 32:17.619 --> 32:19.563 in the Middle East , and of course 32:19.563 --> 32:21.341 North Korea looms on the Korean 32:21.341 --> 32:24.550 Peninsula . We must also prepare for 32:24.550 --> 32:26.772 the possibility of simultaneous threats 32:26.772 --> 32:28.772 in different regions . That doesn't 32:28.772 --> 32:30.939 mean we think such simultaneous action 32:30.939 --> 32:33.040 is likely or even necessarily 32:33.040 --> 32:35.040 inevitable , but it's something the 32:35.040 --> 32:37.318 Department of war must be prepared for . 32:38.219 --> 32:40.441 And the best way to prepare for this is 32:40.441 --> 32:42.608 not by pretending we can do everything 32:42.608 --> 32:44.775 or be everywhere . Effectively handing 32:44.775 --> 32:46.760 a provision slip for our allies 32:46.760 --> 32:49.890 laggardly defense efforts . This 32:49.890 --> 32:51.969 neo-Reaganite attitude led us to 32:51.969 --> 32:54.280 fritter away our soldiers' lives , our 32:54.280 --> 32:57.040 natural resources , and our citizens' 32:57.040 --> 32:59.359 support in rudderless wars . 33:00.790 --> 33:03.012 Our approach is fundamentally different 33:03.012 --> 33:05.234 and in keeping with the noble tradition 33:05.234 --> 33:07.290 of President Reagan as well as Nixon 33:07.290 --> 33:10.069 and Eisenhower , we will actually for 33:10.069 --> 33:12.229 real get our allies and partners to 33:12.229 --> 33:14.709 step up and do their part . We will no 33:14.709 --> 33:17.780 longer tolerate free riding . President 33:17.780 --> 33:19.613 Trump has shown the way with his 33:19.613 --> 33:21.669 historic leadership that yielded the 33:21.669 --> 33:23.724 commitments at NATO's Hague summit . 33:23.724 --> 33:27.329 There NATO committed to spend 5% of GDP 33:27.329 --> 33:30.439 on defense , 3.5% on core military , 33:30.640 --> 33:33.040 and 1.5% on security related 33:33.040 --> 33:35.229 investments . And pledged to take 33:35.229 --> 33:38.229 primary responsibility for Europe's 33:38.229 --> 33:41.709 conventional defense . Things most 33:41.709 --> 33:43.709 folks sitting here just 5 years ago 33:43.709 --> 33:45.376 would have thought completely 33:45.376 --> 33:48.390 impossible . We're now using this 33:48.390 --> 33:50.612 template to press our allies around the 33:50.612 --> 33:52.779 world to meet this new global standard 33:52.779 --> 33:54.946 the president has set . It's working . 33:55.430 --> 33:57.541 First there was Europe and Canada and 33:57.541 --> 33:59.374 just just last month South Korea 33:59.374 --> 34:01.589 committed to spend 3.5% GDP on core 34:01.589 --> 34:03.510 military spending and assumed the 34:03.510 --> 34:05.859 leading role in the Iraq's conventional 34:05.859 --> 34:09.679 defense . We're optimistic that under 34:09.679 --> 34:13.020 other Indo-Pacific allies will follow 34:13.020 --> 34:15.658 suit . In a few years thanks to 34:15.658 --> 34:18.049 President Trump's visionary leadership , 34:18.618 --> 34:20.729 we will have our allies which include 34:21.059 --> 34:22.837 some of the wealthiest and most 34:22.837 --> 34:24.837 productive countries in the world . 34:25.149 --> 34:27.149 Once again fielding combat credible 34:27.149 --> 34:29.870 militaries and boasting revived defense 34:29.870 --> 34:33.379 industrial industries . This will will 34:33.379 --> 34:36.850 form a powerful shared defensive shield 34:37.360 --> 34:39.582 with well armed allies around the world 34:39.582 --> 34:41.527 ready to defend themselves , their 34:41.527 --> 34:44.070 interests and our collective interests , 34:44.639 --> 34:48.310 real partnerships and alliances based 34:48.310 --> 34:51.270 on hard power . Not just flags and 34:51.270 --> 34:53.492 fancy conferences based on theories and 34:53.492 --> 34:56.309 hot rhetoric . Our allies are not 34:56.309 --> 34:59.000 children . They're nations capable of 34:59.000 --> 35:01.222 doing far more for themselves than they 35:01.222 --> 35:03.444 have . It's time they stand up and they 35:03.444 --> 35:05.278 are . In fact , many of them are 35:05.278 --> 35:07.278 nations who have proud and powerful 35:07.278 --> 35:09.389 martial traditions of their own , and 35:09.389 --> 35:11.556 we should treat them that way . We can 35:11.556 --> 35:13.667 and should and must expect them to do 35:13.667 --> 35:15.800 their part exactly as President Trump 35:15.800 --> 35:19.389 has . Model allies that step up 35:19.389 --> 35:21.790 like Israel , South Korea , Poland , 35:21.919 --> 35:23.975 increasingly Germany , the Baltics , 35:23.975 --> 35:25.975 and others will receive our special 35:25.975 --> 35:29.810 favor . Allies that do not . Allies 35:29.810 --> 35:31.866 that still fail to do their part for 35:31.866 --> 35:33.477 collective defense will face 35:33.477 --> 35:36.889 consequences . President Trump Makes 35:36.889 --> 35:39.370 sense to me Likes helping countries 35:39.370 --> 35:42.010 that help themselves . And we feel the 35:42.010 --> 35:44.649 same way That's the nature of 35:44.649 --> 35:47.620 partnerships rather than dependencies . 35:48.050 --> 35:50.919 It's what we owe our friends and most 35:50.919 --> 35:53.500 importantly what we owe the American 35:53.500 --> 35:57.409 people . This is 35:57.409 --> 35:59.639 a period of great consequence for our 35:59.639 --> 36:02.479 great republic . Our forefathers fought 36:02.479 --> 36:04.959 and won the Cold War , ushering in a 36:04.959 --> 36:07.600 unipolar moment during which America 36:07.600 --> 36:10.449 stood alone . It was a time of 36:10.449 --> 36:12.560 tremendous opportunity , well earned 36:12.560 --> 36:14.719 after a century marked by two world 36:14.719 --> 36:17.639 wars and a Cold War , always under a 36:17.639 --> 36:20.659 nuclear shadow . Well , as you know , 36:20.669 --> 36:23.179 that unipolar moment is over . And we 36:23.179 --> 36:25.419 have an opportunity to define what 36:25.419 --> 36:28.800 comes next . Under President Trump's 36:28.800 --> 36:31.000 leadership , that's exactly what we're 36:31.000 --> 36:33.350 doing . The Department of war at the 36:33.350 --> 36:35.899 president's direction is laser focused 36:36.469 --> 36:39.310 on advancing America first , peace 36:39.310 --> 36:42.729 through strength , common sense efforts . 36:43.070 --> 36:45.181 We're reviving the warrior ethos . We 36:45.181 --> 36:47.310 are rebuilding our great military and 36:47.310 --> 36:49.389 every day our warriors are 36:49.389 --> 36:52.000 re-establishing the deterrence that Joe 36:52.000 --> 36:54.379 Biden so foolishly gave away . 36:55.969 --> 36:58.469 We owe safety , freedom , and 36:58.469 --> 37:00.691 prosperity to the American people , and 37:00.691 --> 37:03.590 we will deliver . We will achieve peace 37:03.590 --> 37:05.646 through strength , which is what the 37:05.646 --> 37:07.929 American people voted for . And what 37:07.929 --> 37:11.850 President Trump demands . And in 37:11.850 --> 37:14.750 doing this , We appeal to Almighty God . 37:15.770 --> 37:19.139 Just as our forefathers did . George 37:19.139 --> 37:21.260 Washington , the founder of the War 37:21.260 --> 37:23.419 Department . Appealed to God's 37:23.419 --> 37:26.010 providence during every step of our 37:26.010 --> 37:29.370 improbable revolution . On on 37:29.370 --> 37:32.290 prayer , on bended knee , on the 37:32.290 --> 37:34.750 battlefield . Ronald Reagan did the 37:34.750 --> 37:37.870 same , appealing to heaven . Is the 37:37.870 --> 37:40.919 world hung in the balance . We do the 37:40.919 --> 37:43.379 same today with Jesus Christ as our 37:43.379 --> 37:46.620 guide . May he grant us the wisdom to 37:46.620 --> 37:50.489 see what is right . And the courage to 37:50.489 --> 37:54.270 do it . May God bless our warriors and 37:54.270 --> 37:56.214 may God bless our great republic . 37:56.214 --> 37:57.214 Thank you . 38:00.429 --> 38:01.429 Hm . 38:11.310 --> 38:13.477 Well thank you for your remarks , Mr . 38:13.477 --> 38:15.643 Secretary , and for joining us here at 38:15.643 --> 38:17.810 the Reagan National Defense Forum . We 38:17.810 --> 38:19.921 are reminded not only in your remarks 38:19.921 --> 38:21.909 but all morning about the Reagan 38:21.909 --> 38:23.687 doctrine , that's peace through 38:23.687 --> 38:26.030 strength . Let's remind everybody here 38:26.030 --> 38:28.310 what fueled that strength , and that 38:28.310 --> 38:31.360 was defense spending that was 2 times , 38:31.459 --> 38:34.310 roughly 2 times more than what the US 38:34.310 --> 38:37.179 is spending today . My question to you , 38:37.310 --> 38:40.350 Mr . Secretary . Should the US be 38:40.350 --> 38:42.461 spending more ? There are many people 38:42.461 --> 38:44.294 in this audience responsible for 38:44.294 --> 38:46.239 building , operating , and funding 38:46.239 --> 38:48.899 combat systems . Well , the president 38:48.899 --> 38:51.179 has said and continues to say he's 38:51.179 --> 38:53.235 committed to rebuilding the military 38:53.235 --> 38:54.957 and that requires spending and 38:54.957 --> 38:57.012 substantial spending . I people have 38:57.012 --> 38:59.012 asked me what keeps me up and other 38:59.012 --> 39:01.179 than uh the operational aspects of the 39:01.179 --> 39:03.401 job , the men and women out there doing 39:03.401 --> 39:02.820 the work for us , which of course is 39:02.820 --> 39:05.042 top of mind always . It's actually been 39:05.042 --> 39:06.820 the budget . It's actually been 39:06.820 --> 39:09.042 resources . It's actually been ensuring 39:09.042 --> 39:11.098 that our team does all the spadework 39:11.098 --> 39:13.098 necessary with the services to make 39:13.098 --> 39:15.320 sure we're properly representing . What 39:15.320 --> 39:17.487 we need to deter and fight and win our 39:17.487 --> 39:19.598 nation's wars , that's just this week 39:19.598 --> 39:21.709 and I was with some of you , uh , was 39:21.709 --> 39:23.709 there in the Oval having these very 39:23.709 --> 39:26.800 discussions about FY 26 and FY27 and 39:27.270 --> 39:29.492 all I can say today is the president is 39:29.492 --> 39:32.780 committed to ensuring . That um our 39:32.780 --> 39:34.836 services , our great companies , our 39:34.836 --> 39:37.020 industries have what is needed to what 39:37.020 --> 39:38.909 we say and we call rebuilding the 39:38.909 --> 39:41.100 arsenal of freedom . We need a revived 39:41.100 --> 39:43.322 defense industrial base . We need those 39:43.322 --> 39:45.433 capabilities we need them yesterday , 39:45.449 --> 39:48.449 uh , and so resource wise uh I think uh 39:48.449 --> 39:50.616 this , this room will be encouraged by 39:50.616 --> 39:52.782 what we'll see soon , but I don't want 39:52.782 --> 39:54.893 to get too ahead of it is at the high 39:54.893 --> 39:56.949 mark . Of President Reagan , we were 39:56.949 --> 39:59.719 spending 6% of our GDP on defense at 39:59.719 --> 40:01.441 the low mark of Jimmy Carter's 40:01.441 --> 40:03.663 presidency . We're spending 4.5% of GDP 40:03.663 --> 40:07.449 and today it's about 3% . Do you think 40:07.449 --> 40:09.939 that number will go up ? I think that 40:09.939 --> 40:13.000 number is going up . Uh , I don't wanna , 40:13.340 --> 40:15.507 uh , get in front of the president and 40:15.507 --> 40:17.618 his desire to properly shape what the 40:17.618 --> 40:19.810 budget should look like . But just 40:19.810 --> 40:21.977 reading the tea leaves , just watching 40:21.977 --> 40:24.032 it , he is , uh , he understands the 40:24.032 --> 40:26.199 threat . Better than anybody I've ever 40:26.199 --> 40:28.143 seen articulate and understand the 40:28.143 --> 40:30.366 threat , and that includes investment . 40:30.366 --> 40:32.699 He just needs to make sure , by the way , 40:32.699 --> 40:32.219 if you haven't met our deputy secretary 40:32.219 --> 40:34.510 Steve Feinberg , he's the absolute best 40:34.510 --> 40:36.800 in the business . He understands how to 40:36.800 --> 40:38.911 drive budgets , how to drive change , 40:38.911 --> 40:41.078 and he and I , along with the chairman 40:41.078 --> 40:43.300 Dan Kane in the front here , uh , are . 40:44.179 --> 40:46.346 Absolutely , um , shoulder to shoulder 40:46.346 --> 40:48.235 in the belief of representing the 40:48.235 --> 40:50.401 president exactly what we need to make 40:50.401 --> 40:52.568 sure we're at the proper level , and I 40:52.568 --> 40:54.568 believe it'll be going up . Can you 40:54.568 --> 40:56.610 take us back to the September 2nd 40:56.610 --> 40:59.090 strike off the coast of Venezuela , the 40:59.090 --> 41:01.330 very first one when combat operations 41:01.330 --> 41:04.250 began , uh , in the Caribbean , and 41:04.250 --> 41:06.361 walk us through the timeline and your 41:06.361 --> 41:09.459 role in it from mission planning , the 41:09.459 --> 41:11.800 operation , and the follow on strikes . 41:11.810 --> 41:13.977 Absolutely . So it took us a couple of 41:13.977 --> 41:16.250 weeks , almost a month to develop and 41:16.250 --> 41:18.472 we can't , I can't get into sources and 41:18.472 --> 41:20.472 methods and all of those things for 41:20.472 --> 41:22.361 obvious reasons , but you have to 41:22.361 --> 41:21.850 develop the intel picture and get an 41:21.850 --> 41:24.183 understanding of what you're looking at . 41:24.183 --> 41:26.183 Uh , and a lot of our assets , as I 41:26.183 --> 41:25.639 talked about in the speech , you've 41:25.639 --> 41:27.949 been pointing , you know , 10,000 miles 41:27.949 --> 41:30.116 around the other side of the world for 41:30.116 --> 41:32.282 a very long time . Uh , so once we got 41:32.282 --> 41:34.060 to the point where a strike was 41:34.060 --> 41:35.838 imminent , uh , I had taken the 41:35.838 --> 41:38.060 decision , um , responsibility up to my 41:38.060 --> 41:40.060 level . Not many military decisions 41:40.060 --> 41:42.338 should be made by the Secretary of War . 41:42.338 --> 41:44.393 Uh , I believe in in deferring those 41:44.393 --> 41:46.505 decisions to local commanders as much 41:46.505 --> 41:48.338 as possible , but because of the 41:48.338 --> 41:50.560 strategic implications of the first few 41:50.560 --> 41:49.800 strikes , I wanted to hold that 41:49.800 --> 41:52.280 decision at my level , uh , and the 41:52.280 --> 41:54.336 briefing that I received before that 41:54.336 --> 41:56.879 strike was extensive , exhaustive , I 41:56.879 --> 41:59.760 would say , as each one is since . On 41:59.760 --> 42:01.979 the military side , on the , on the 42:01.979 --> 42:04.139 civilian side , lawyers , intel 42:04.139 --> 42:06.250 analysts , red teaming every aspect , 42:06.250 --> 42:08.417 what do we know how , how , what do we 42:08.417 --> 42:10.639 know about their affiliation ? A lot of 42:10.639 --> 42:12.695 things I can't share in this room to 42:12.695 --> 42:14.861 give us the kind of confidence that we 42:14.861 --> 42:17.028 know where this is coming from , who's 42:17.028 --> 42:19.083 driving it , uh , who's on it , what 42:19.083 --> 42:21.139 their intentions are , where all the 42:21.139 --> 42:23.361 details you need to strike a designated 42:23.361 --> 42:25.417 terrorist organization , which is an 42:25.417 --> 42:25.139 important thing to remember at the top 42:25.139 --> 42:26.917 of all this . The president has 42:26.917 --> 42:28.417 designated these as terror 42:28.417 --> 42:30.417 organizations . and threatening the 42:30.417 --> 42:32.583 American people , making them a target 42:32.583 --> 42:34.695 unlike , uh , just like al Qaeda . So 42:34.695 --> 42:36.861 in that room , in that moment it was I 42:36.861 --> 42:38.806 can't remember exactly how long it 42:38.806 --> 42:40.750 would have been 20-30 minutes of a 42:40.750 --> 42:42.917 preview of exactly what's going on and 42:42.917 --> 42:44.861 my job was to say execute or don't 42:44.861 --> 42:46.972 execute . So I was satisfied with the 42:46.972 --> 42:49.028 with the strike criteria , yes . Saw 42:49.028 --> 42:51.083 the strike itself , which all of you 42:51.083 --> 42:53.306 have seen . There was probably 30 or 40 42:53.306 --> 42:55.510 minutes is what I've been told of dust 42:55.510 --> 42:57.840 and he was on fire for a long time 42:57.840 --> 42:59.959 after that . I stayed for probably 55 42:59.959 --> 43:02.320 minutes or so after , but ultimately at 43:02.320 --> 43:04.487 that point it was a tactical operation 43:04.487 --> 43:06.598 and so I moved on to other things . I 43:06.598 --> 43:08.653 shouldn't be fighting tactics as the 43:08.653 --> 43:10.653 Secretary of War . So I moved on to 43:10.653 --> 43:10.600 other things . Later on , a couple of 43:10.600 --> 43:12.767 hours later , I was told , hey , there 43:12.767 --> 43:14.767 had to be a re-attack because there 43:14.767 --> 43:16.933 were a couple of folks who could still 43:16.933 --> 43:18.989 be in the fight . Access to radios . 43:19.020 --> 43:21.076 There was a link up point of another 43:21.076 --> 43:23.409 potential boat . Drugs were still there . 43:23.409 --> 43:25.409 They were actively interacting with 43:25.409 --> 43:27.353 them . Had to take that . I said , 43:27.353 --> 43:29.520 Roger , sounds good . Um , from what I 43:29.520 --> 43:31.631 understood then and what I understand 43:31.631 --> 43:33.742 now , I fully support that strike . I 43:33.742 --> 43:35.909 would have made the same call myself . 43:35.909 --> 43:37.853 Uh , those who were involved in 20 43:37.853 --> 43:39.464 years of conflict , Iraq and 43:39.464 --> 43:41.409 Afghanistan or elsewhere know that 43:41.409 --> 43:43.631 re-attacks and re-strikes of combatants 43:43.631 --> 43:45.909 on the battlefield , uh , happen often . 43:45.909 --> 43:48.020 In this particular case , it was well 43:48.020 --> 43:49.909 within the authorities of Admiral 43:49.909 --> 43:52.187 Bradley , who's an incredible American , 43:52.187 --> 43:54.298 an American hero , uh , and the 22 or 43:54.298 --> 43:56.242 23 strikes since have followed the 43:56.242 --> 43:58.187 similar protocol of , uh , of , of 43:58.187 --> 44:00.187 ensuring we meet the criteria . The 44:00.187 --> 44:02.520 decision's not at my level anymore , uh , 44:02.520 --> 44:04.742 and then we take the strike . Now after 44:04.742 --> 44:06.853 Admiral Bradley's meetings on Capitol 44:06.853 --> 44:08.853 Hill with the Chairman of the Joint 44:08.853 --> 44:11.020 Chiefs , President Trump said he would 44:11.020 --> 44:13.076 have no problem if the full video of 44:13.076 --> 44:15.131 the strike is released . When can we 44:15.131 --> 44:17.298 see that video ? When will you release 44:17.298 --> 44:19.353 it ? We're reviewing it right now to 44:19.353 --> 44:21.520 make sure sources , methods , I mean , 44:21.520 --> 44:23.464 it's an ongoing operation . TTPs . 44:23.464 --> 44:25.464 We've got operators out there doing 44:25.464 --> 44:27.687 this right now , so whatever we were to 44:27.687 --> 44:26.719 decide to release , we'd have to be 44:26.719 --> 44:28.608 very responsible about it . We're 44:28.608 --> 44:30.719 reviewing that right now . Did you at 44:30.719 --> 44:33.909 any time . Say that everybody on board 44:34.040 --> 44:36.262 should be killed . Is anybody here from 44:36.262 --> 44:38.209 the Washington Post ? I don't know 44:38.209 --> 44:40.431 where you get your sources , but they . 44:40.560 --> 44:43.260 Uh , of course not . Anybody that's 44:43.260 --> 44:45.427 been in the Situation Room and there's 44:45.427 --> 44:47.704 or they've been in , in , in the , the , 44:47.704 --> 44:49.927 the war room there secretary's office , 44:49.927 --> 44:49.479 know , you don't walk in and say kill 44:49.479 --> 44:51.312 them . It's , it's just patently 44:51.312 --> 44:53.312 ridiculous . It's meant to create a 44:53.312 --> 44:55.535 cartoon of me and the decisions that we 44:55.535 --> 44:57.868 make and how we make them is ridiculous . 44:57.868 --> 44:59.923 The chairman and Admiral Bradley and 44:59.923 --> 45:01.979 everybody shot it down . Immediately 45:01.979 --> 45:04.201 because anybody that knows knows that's 45:04.201 --> 45:06.146 not how things go . There's a very 45:06.146 --> 45:08.312 defined process , specific criteria go 45:08.312 --> 45:10.485 no go , yes no , lawyers , intel 45:10.485 --> 45:12.652 analysts , everything , and then after 45:12.652 --> 45:14.874 that you simply say cleared cleared hot 45:14.874 --> 45:17.096 or not . So did you have a plan to deal 45:17.096 --> 45:18.874 with survivors ? Uh , there was 45:18.874 --> 45:20.985 protocol for dealing with survivors , 45:20.985 --> 45:20.844 but in that , and , and frankly there 45:20.844 --> 45:23.066 was a , I don't know , 10 strikes later 45:23.066 --> 45:25.066 there was a semi-submersible that I 45:25.066 --> 45:27.344 think folks here , meaning a submarine , 45:27.344 --> 45:29.066 uh , you don't go fishing on a 45:29.066 --> 45:32.429 submarine . Full of drugs and in that 45:32.429 --> 45:34.373 particular case , the first strike 45:34.373 --> 45:36.596 didn't take it out and a couple of guys 45:36.596 --> 45:38.373 jumped off and swam from what I 45:38.373 --> 45:40.596 understand a ways away . When we struck 45:40.596 --> 45:42.818 the submarine a second time , it sunk , 45:42.818 --> 45:44.873 and then you had two people that you 45:44.873 --> 45:47.096 had to go get and we had the ability to 45:47.096 --> 45:46.189 go get them . We gave them back to 45:46.189 --> 45:48.300 their host countries . That's a story 45:48.300 --> 45:50.300 that's Uh , already been out in the 45:50.300 --> 45:52.300 public , so if we didn't change our 45:52.300 --> 45:51.719 protocol , it was just a different 45:51.719 --> 45:53.886 circumstance . So what people think is 45:53.886 --> 45:55.959 cavalier or cowboy about it is the 45:55.959 --> 45:58.239 exact opposite . These are the most 45:58.239 --> 46:00.295 professional Americans going through 46:00.295 --> 46:02.461 specific processes about what they can 46:02.461 --> 46:04.572 and cannot do , understanding all the 46:04.572 --> 46:06.795 authorities , all the laws of war , all 46:06.795 --> 46:09.128 the capabilities , and applying it , uh , 46:09.128 --> 46:11.461 to deter our adversaries and by the way , 46:11.461 --> 46:13.517 uh , it's , there aren't many people 46:13.517 --> 46:15.461 getting in boats right now running 46:15.461 --> 46:17.679 drugs . Which is the whole point . We 46:17.679 --> 46:19.568 want to stop the poisoning of the 46:19.568 --> 46:21.790 American people . The catch and release 46:21.790 --> 46:24.012 program of the pat them on the head and 46:24.012 --> 46:23.360 release them so they can go back to the 46:23.360 --> 46:25.027 fight didn't work in Iraq and 46:25.027 --> 46:27.027 Afghanistan , and it's not going to 46:27.027 --> 46:28.860 work in the Caribbean . So we're 46:28.860 --> 46:28.239 putting them at the bottom of the 46:28.239 --> 46:30.461 Caribbean , which forces them to change 46:30.461 --> 46:32.406 the way they operate and hopefully 46:32.406 --> 46:34.572 makes the American people safer in the 46:34.572 --> 46:34.360 problem , not hopefully it will make 46:34.360 --> 46:36.193 the American people safer in the 46:36.193 --> 46:38.360 process . So Mr . Secretary , you will 46:38.360 --> 46:40.471 be releasing that full video . We are 46:40.471 --> 46:42.638 reviewing it right now . Is that a yes 46:42.638 --> 46:44.804 or no ? That is for the most important 46:44.804 --> 46:46.971 thing to me are the ongoing operations 46:46.971 --> 46:49.590 in the Caribbean with our folks that 46:49.590 --> 46:52.370 use bespoke capabilities , techniques , 46:52.469 --> 46:54.659 procedures in the process . I'm way 46:54.659 --> 46:56.881 more interested in protecting that than 46:56.881 --> 46:59.048 anything else , so we're reviewing the 46:59.048 --> 47:01.270 process and we'll see . Let's move over 47:01.270 --> 47:03.215 to China , who now has the world's 47:03.215 --> 47:05.590 largest navy . For every 8 warships 47:05.590 --> 47:07.812 they're building each year , the United 47:07.812 --> 47:10.260 States is only building 1.8 . They're 47:10.629 --> 47:12.796 building and modernizing their nuclear 47:12.796 --> 47:14.796 forces , building a nuclear triad . 47:14.949 --> 47:17.419 They're helping Russia . Build 47:17.870 --> 47:20.649 artillery 300,000 rounds a month . The 47:20.649 --> 47:23.590 US can only muster 40,000 rounds 47:23.590 --> 47:25.790 manufacturer a month . How concerned 47:25.790 --> 47:28.100 are you about these numbers ? Chinese 47:28.100 --> 47:31.340 shipbuilding is 230% 47:31.790 --> 47:33.830 greater than the United States' 47:33.830 --> 47:35.997 capability . How worried are you about 47:35.997 --> 47:38.052 that ? We're obviously well aware of 47:38.052 --> 47:40.219 their historic military buildup . It's 47:40.219 --> 47:42.274 right , right in front of us , which 47:42.274 --> 47:44.441 the The most important thing we can do 47:44.441 --> 47:46.790 is look inward and increase our urgency 47:46.790 --> 47:48.734 of ensuring we rebuild our defense 47:48.734 --> 47:50.623 industrial base in the arsenal of 47:50.623 --> 47:50.479 freedom . I mean that's why we're 47:50.479 --> 47:52.646 crisscrossing the country . That's why 47:52.646 --> 47:54.312 we did an entire acquisitions 47:54.312 --> 47:56.535 requirements and foreign military sales 47:56.535 --> 47:58.757 overhaul , not a , not a reform , not a 47:58.757 --> 48:00.423 tinkering . As the folks that 48:00.423 --> 48:02.368 understand it , our folks that are 48:02.368 --> 48:04.312 doing it . This is a complete game 48:04.312 --> 48:06.535 change in how we deliver systems to the 48:06.535 --> 48:06.320 battle . We we have to , we don't have 48:06.320 --> 48:09.399 time . Uh , ultimately we need to be 48:09.399 --> 48:11.439 able to feel the best as quickly as 48:11.439 --> 48:13.661 possible , so we're , we see it , we're 48:13.661 --> 48:15.772 aware , but we're also prudent in how 48:15.772 --> 48:17.883 we approach it , which is the way the 48:17.883 --> 48:20.106 president has approached it , and we'll 48:20.106 --> 48:22.272 do the same . Speaking of time , we're 48:22.272 --> 48:24.161 running short , but I know the IG 48:24.161 --> 48:26.383 report cleared you with signal . If you 48:26.383 --> 48:28.383 had to do it again , would you have 48:28.383 --> 48:30.699 used it ? Before combat operations , I 48:30.699 --> 48:32.669 don't live , I don't live , uh , I 48:32.669 --> 48:34.669 don't live with any regrets , not a 48:34.669 --> 48:36.780 healthy way to live , uh , and I know 48:36.780 --> 48:38.836 exactly where my compass is on these 48:38.836 --> 48:41.058 troops , which is why you've seen , and 48:41.058 --> 48:42.947 the same with the president , the 48:42.947 --> 48:44.780 revival of the spirit inside our 48:44.780 --> 48:46.669 military . If you spend , I would 48:46.669 --> 48:46.280 encourage some reporters here to spend 48:46.280 --> 48:48.889 some time with actual formations of 48:48.889 --> 48:51.060 units , marines , soldiers out there , 48:51.110 --> 48:53.830 combat arms folks , the revival of the 48:53.830 --> 48:57.050 spirit , the desire to . To join and to 48:57.050 --> 48:59.649 reenlist is at historic levels because 48:59.649 --> 49:01.871 they , they believe in the core of what 49:01.871 --> 49:03.871 the president's trying to do . They 49:03.871 --> 49:05.927 know he has their back . They know I 49:05.927 --> 49:07.816 have their back . um , silly news 49:07.816 --> 49:09.927 stories peddled for months and months 49:09.927 --> 49:09.169 and months and months and months 49:09.169 --> 49:11.002 because you got to fill . I know 49:11.002 --> 49:12.947 something about filling cable news 49:12.947 --> 49:15.113 segments . Uh , you gotta do it . Uh , 49:15.113 --> 49:17.169 it is not something I worry about or 49:17.169 --> 49:19.447 they worry about when you were a young . 49:19.447 --> 49:21.669 Platoon leader in Iraq , would you have 49:21.669 --> 49:23.225 wanted any of your soldiers 49:23.225 --> 49:25.336 communicating , uh , your mission for 49:25.336 --> 49:27.447 leaving the wire and Lucas , I had to 49:27.447 --> 49:29.613 use an AT&T pay phone to call home for 49:29.613 --> 49:31.725 a buck $99 a minute . Some contractor 49:31.725 --> 49:31.429 was ripping us off . So I would have 49:31.429 --> 49:33.439 liked anyway , uh , to actually 49:33.439 --> 49:36.929 communicate back home . AI , a quick 49:36.929 --> 49:39.929 question on AI . Would you rather to 49:39.929 --> 49:43.080 see uh your soldiers , Marines on the 49:43.080 --> 49:45.120 front lines armed with more AI 49:45.120 --> 49:47.679 capability or have them replaced with 49:47.679 --> 49:49.901 autonomous systems ? I think it's gonna 49:49.901 --> 49:52.330 be both . I mean , you , you watch the 49:52.330 --> 49:54.608 modern battlefield . It has to be both . 49:55.080 --> 49:56.802 Uh , the , the , the couple of 49:56.802 --> 49:58.747 companies we visited yesterday and 49:58.747 --> 50:00.802 others I've seen , I mean what AI is 50:00.802 --> 50:03.280 doing to 10 , 100 , 1000 X , the speed 50:03.280 --> 50:06.360 of , of sensing , uh , everything we do 50:06.360 --> 50:08.471 on the , on the modern battlefield is 50:08.471 --> 50:10.527 critical , but . Autonomy is , is we 50:10.527 --> 50:12.860 see it in Ukraine , we see it elsewhere , 50:12.860 --> 50:12.500 we're learning from that . The army's 50:12.500 --> 50:14.556 learning from that is a huge part of 50:14.556 --> 50:16.333 the way of the future , so it's 50:16.333 --> 50:18.111 definitely gonna be both . This 50:18.111 --> 50:20.278 number's flashing 01 last question , a 50:20.278 --> 50:22.389 small one . Who's gonna win next week 50:22.389 --> 50:24.500 another one in Army or navy ? Who are 50:24.500 --> 50:24.330 you gonna be rooting for ? 50:29.159 --> 50:31.215 You know , here we go , heard that . 50:31.280 --> 50:33.613 He's a Naval Academy grad , I know that . 50:33.840 --> 50:35.618 I'm not supposed to answer that 50:35.618 --> 50:37.840 question . If I was a good politician , 50:37.840 --> 50:40.062 I wouldn't answer that question , but I 50:40.062 --> 50:43.110 will say . That the Marine Corps of all 50:43.110 --> 50:45.790 the services is the service that never 50:45.790 --> 50:47.949 wavered when there was a lot of 50:47.949 --> 50:49.838 political prerogatives , a lot of 50:49.838 --> 50:51.782 nonsense in the space , the Marine 50:51.782 --> 50:53.949 Corps stood strong . So for this one , 50:53.949 --> 50:55.949 maybe not next one for this one I'm 50:55.949 --> 50:59.030 with Navy . How about that ? Great 50:59.030 --> 51:01.290 thanks a lot . Thank you . Thank you . 51:01.379 --> 51:01.709 See you soon .