Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to unravel during a live TV interview on Sunday when the news anchor pushed back on the lines he’d seemingly prepared to praise his boss.
Hegseth, 46, appeared on Face the Nation and was talking up President Donald Trump’s “success” in Iran when he became flustered as host Margaret Brennan began to challenge his claims.
“It’s been military pressure and strength from President Trump that’s compelled Iran to this deal,” Hegseth said of a deal touted by Trump on social media a day earlier, which Brennan quickly noted had yet to be finalized.
“Right, but we’re not at that deal yet. We’re not even at the memorandum. That’s what we’re waiting on being signed today,” she said, before going on to note that the deal described by Hegseth sounded the same as the 2015 nuclear agreement that Trump had earlier pulled out of.
Asked for details on how the administration plans to facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth spoke broadly and claimed, “We have controlled the Strait this entire time,” prompting Brennan to interject and clarify, “But you’re going to negotiate with them to reopen it.”
“We’re already doing things I can’t talk about,” Hegseth claimed, appearing to grow more frustrated when pushed for specifics.
He became evasive when asked how the Trump administration plans to obtain and eliminate Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which the president called “nuclear dust” while vowing to destroy it on Saturday.
“If Iran does not want to comply, then they can deal with the War Department again,” he said, dancing around the question of who would handle the destruction of nuclear material.
Brennan attempted to clarify: “It’s an important point for those who are members of the U.S. military to understand whether you are saying ground troops will be involved in clearing up nuclear dust.”
“You’re saying that. You’re trying to put words in my mouth. You’re trying to create a headline,” Hegseth lashed out, with Brennan responding: “No, I’m asking.”
Hegseth—becoming more red-faced by the second—managed to dodge the key question again and reverted to generalities.
The administration has “plans for everything,” he said. ”Whatever the president decides is in the best interest of America."
Hegseth repeatedly tried to turn the interview into a love-fest for Trump, who celebrates his 80th birthday this weekend.
“He has made us energy-independent at home. We are a net exporter,” he said, only to be reminded by Brennan that “energy prices are pretty high right now. So I don’t know that the independence is at the pump.”
“They’re coming down. They are!” Hegseth swore, before awkwardly giggling.
After Brennan moved on to the matter of munitions stockpiles and concerns of them being depleted in Iran, Hegseth insisted the Pentagon was “building more, building faster” and “supercharging our arsenal of freedom.”
“There is a crisis with those stockpiles right now,” Brennan said, sending the defense secretary into a tizzy.
“No, there’s not. That is a manufactured story that the media wants to peddle. Ultimately, our stockpiles are great and they’ll only get stronger because of the way this president has—”
But Brennan stopped him with a reminder: “You testified under oath that it would take years to rebuild those stockpiles.”
Hegseth took a moment to breathe, before lowering his voice and angrily saying: “You don’t have to read back to me what I testified.”
“I speculated some munitions take more time than others. We’ve got lots of them. We’re building more than ever before,” he said.
