Pete Hegseth Was The Right Man For The Job! Must See!

James Coughlin, World News Report, today, February 9th, 2025. God bless you and yours, no matter where you are in the world. Please subscribe, give us a thumbs up, ring that bell for critical future updates. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly how much and where their money is spent. This, according to Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth appeared on Sunday Morning Futures. with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Defense Department and physical responsibility. He also spoke highly of Doge and wanted to work with him to maintain department accountability. Quote, should we expect hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending there at the Pentagon? Bartiromo asked. Quote, unfortunately, I think so. And these audits are well overdue. He is setting the pace, the president, and it's also correct that American taxpayers deserve to know exactly how and where each dollar of their tax dollars are spent, Hegseth responded. Let's listen. Joining me now in this Sunday Morning Futures exclusive is the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who is about to embark on a week-long trip to Germany, Belgium, and Poland to engage with allied leaders on strengthening deterrence, as the Secretary is also committing to a clean audit of the Defense Department within four years. Secretary Hegseth, congratulations to you, and thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, Rep. So tell us about this upcoming look at the spending at the Defense Department. Should we expect hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending there? Unfortunately, I think so, and we very much, the President is right, he's setting the pace, and he is also correct that American taxpayers deserve to know exactly how and where their money is spent. The fact that I have to commit, bring it to an audit being done in four years, is bad enough. The Pentagon should be able to pass a budget right now. Thankfully, the Marine Corps has passed a clean audit for two years in a row, and I applaud them, but that needs to go across the entire department, so that will be a focus. Where we spend dollars, we need to know, or when we spend dollars, we need to know where they're going and why. That's simple accounting, and that has not existed at the Defense Department. We're going to fix that. But that's not even Doge. I mean, we welcome Elon Musk and Doge coming into our department to help us identify additional ways in which we can streamline processes, fast-track acquisitions, cut waste, cut tail to put it to tooth. We know in a world where America's, you know. $37 trillion in debt. Resources will not be unlimited. So every dollar we can find that isn't being spent wisely is one we can put toward warfighters. So we welcome Doge and DOD, who will partner with them. And it's long overdue. The Defense Department's got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsive. All of this, as you're also looking to modernize, President Trump told me he'd like to call it a golden sphere. I know we talked Iron Dome because Israel has that. Will this spawn a whole new effort to modernize and bring new innovation into the U.S. military? What are the plans? That's a great question. Modernization is an incredibly important part of what we're doing at DOD. Take our nuclear triad, for example. As Russia's got a massive nuclear arsenal, China is racing to build theirs quickly. Hundreds of new nuclear weapons year by year. We need to update our nuclear triad on land, in sea, and on air. But that also includes. The Iron Dome, Iron Dome or Golden Dome, whatever you want to call it, we have embraced the executive order of President Trump. We're going to ensure it's included in reconciliation money, in the FY26, all our budgets going forward, to invest in the ability, Maria, get this, novel idea, to defend our homeland. That's why we're focusing on our southern border and the invasion there, the 100% operational control, and then our skies. As President Trump, as he's a visionary, just like Ronald Reagan with the SDI back against the Soviets, our skies will be deterred from rogue actors or enemies, and that helps us project power in a meaningful way as well while protecting the American people. And people understand better the threat of China, Secretary, and I know that there's a real conversation underway about the fact that China has more Navy ships. Then America. So what are you going to do there? I know you are about to embark on a very important trip, traveling to Germany, Belgium, Poland. Is China one of the big conversations there? And what are you going to do about the Navy? Very much so. So, Maria, you have, you've amongst, first amongst many, have raised the alarm about the Chinese threat for a long time. There's a reason I, that's the one country I mentioned in my congressional testimony and continue to mention. They're not just a near peer. This is a peer moment. They have very different views of the world than we do. So I'm traveling to Europe this week because there's a NATO ministerial meeting there. And we'll also be talking about Europe taking a lead role in Ukraine, but I'm also meeting with the troops. So I'm going to see the troops for multiple days there. Might even do some PT with them on the ground. Just I want to make sure our troops understand how focused we are on their warfighting capabilities. But none of that is meant to signal that our focus is just in Europe. In fact, if you look at the phone calls that I've made, meetings that we've had, it's been with Australia, it's been with South Korea, it's been with Japan and the Philippines, and those in the Indo-Pacific, our allies and partners who we're going to need to come alongside us to deter Chinese aggression. So our focus is very much still on the Indo-Pacific. China is racing toward shipbuilding. I mean, their shipbuilding capability, I know you know this, Maria. is multitudes beyond ours right now, but we can catch up with the right investment and have to considering Taiwan and Chinese intentions in that in that region. So we know they're building hard power, we have to keep on pace with that and then find other places where we maintain strategic advantage, whether that's under the water or in the skies or in space, or on the cyber domain. We are laser focused there, Maria, because we have to if we want the future of the world to be free. How exciting, Secretary. Now, the White House has not decided whether it's going to endorse this deal that the U.K. has done with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands. I know we have the military base there. Are you planning on going there? What's the story with the U.S.'s position now that the U.K. is trying to do a deal with Mauritius on the very island that we have a military base? And is President Trump going to use tariffs as leverage? I suspect he's going to announce tariffs on Europe next week. Well, Diego Garcia, a lot of people are not familiar with it, is a very important strategic position that we share with the UK in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese would love more impact over that sphere. It gives us power projection platforms, refueling opportunities that if we were to give that away, it would be an abdication of America's ability to project power. So we appreciate our British friends' willingness to pause their deal and give us a chance to take a look at it. And we want to make sure in this new administration. It's a good deal, a deal that serves our interests and our military's interests, that we're good partners with the UK on it, but that also the Chinese are not able to leverage the moment to try to gain a foothold there. So I don't want to get ahead of the president, but we're looking at this very actively. It'll be a part of my discussion with the Minister of Defense from the UK at NATO. We want to get a great deal solidified so American interests are preserved there. Of course. Secretary, our audience knows you so well, having been a colleague and co-worker for so many years. I want to get your take on your observations. As Defense Secretary, what has surprised you most about what you've learned, sir? I've been humbled. I'm so grateful and humbled by the faith that President Trump placed in me to lead the department. I'm, you know, We're confronting threats in real time, restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding military, reestablishing deterrence. Those are what's been really neat to see is, yes, there are a lot of changes that need to be made. And we're, you know, the five and 10 meter targets are on the culture and reestablishing meritocracy and accountabilities and standards. We're doing all that. But the professionalism of the military class, of the uniformed class, is incredible. You know, you see folks that had lawful orders from the Biden administration, who now are getting very different lawful orders from the Trump administration, and they're prepared to salute and execute quickly. And yes, there have been places where we've had to course correct. But I'm proud to come alongside the, you know, 1.3 million uniformed members of the department who execute America's national security approach. And do so with fidelity only to the Constitution and the rule of law. And that's all you could ask for. And let me say, they're so excited to have President Trump as their Commander-in-Chief. You see it in the recruiting numbers, right? You see it in the burst of folks signing up, not just in the Army, but in the Marine Corps, in the Navy. There is an electricity to the Defense Department right now because of their leadership. You see it in those numbers and you see it in the building. It's incredible. Recruitment has soared since you stepped into the role. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't surprise me, right? When you have a commander-in-chief, and we call it the Trump effect inside the building. When you have a commander-in-chief that has the backs of the department and then, humbly, a secretary who's going to have the backs of combat leaders and untie their hands, give them an opportunity to go after the enemy, that's all we want. That's how you establish deterrence, and the young people of America respond thankfully. Thank God for our military, and thank you so much for being here, Secretary. We'll be watching your work. Thank God we finally have the real deal as far as a defense secretary, the Secretary of Defense, may I say. Pete Hagseth on the ground running with the troops next week, and he had nothing but intelligence to deliver for this meeting with Maria Bartiromo today, this morning, on February 9th, 2025. Remember, he's only been in the role a few short days, and you can see he's doing exceptionally well. God bless. Share and subscribe. Always remember, anything's possible in Bizarro World.