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U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to service members on Wednesday, detailing his plans to overhaul the currently “woke” armed forces.
“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth said during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
Hegseth went on to share a “simple translation” of his message, explaining that the Pentagon would be excluding certain groups, including obese and transgender service members, as well as no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals — just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops.”
No fatties.
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) October 1, 2026
No trannies.
No beardos.
No weirdoes.
No wimps.
No radicals — JUST WARRIORS. pic.twitter.com/mDktwOmn6F
Hegseth pointed out that the Department of Defence is “colour-blind, gender neutral and merit-based,” before showing off a halfway decent impression of President Donald Trump.
He added: “The ideological clowns are out, the patriotic cowboys are in — with testosterone testing on top.”
Hegseth also shared that there would be a further 20% cut to military leadership.
While some generals “responded positively” to the “newly focused, and newly empowered and disciplined formations,” Hegseth noted that the generals who “clung to the woke department, or seemed to think civilian control of the military is simply a suggestion… no longer work here.”
‘Anti-American losers’
The former Fox News anchor also took some jabs at the media.
“Allow me to lay it out simply for the anti-American losers in our media,” Hegseth told the audience. “You, this group, are ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
He continued: “Our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable. Our media’s shameful lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless, so-called reporting. So-called journalists juiced up on Trump Derangement Syndrome think they’re fighting against our president. But they’re really undermining you. Our war-fighters.”
Hegseth: "Our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable" pic.twitter.com/NrhXiTcKs0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2026
Musk returns to government work
Hegseth also announced he was putting SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey in charge of a massive upcoming study on the “future of warfare,” in the form of Project Meridian.
“Those three great Americans are going to be joined by a team of senior leaders, handpicked private sector leaders and subject matter experts from across our nation’s unmatched innovation, academic and policy ecosystems,” he praised.
He also unveiled the Office of Religious Affairs, a unit that will report “straight to the top” (directly to him) and is intended to “protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support.”
God is good. Evil is not. And America’s military must know the difference. pic.twitter.com/NBd54ql8QV
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) October 1, 2026
Hegseth concluded his address by what some perceived as “unchristian” paraphrasing of the bible.
“Send me,” he said. “Send me to fight the Redcoats. Send me to fight the Communists. Send me to fight the Islamists. Send me.”