Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived on Monday for his first full day leading the Pentagon, vowing to support President Trump’s priorities to seal the U.S. border with Mexico, use military planes to deport undocumented migrants and increase the military’s combat readiness.
The Pentagon last week rushed 1,500 active-duty Marines and Army soldiers to the southwestern border, joining 2,500 troops already there, and Mr. Hegseth predicted that more forces would be on the way soon.
“Whatever is needed at the border will be provided,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters after he stepped out of his car at the Pentagon. “This is a shift. It’s not the way business has been done in the past.”
He added that the Defense Department supported “the defense of the territorial integrity of the United States of America at the southern border, to include reservist National Guard and active duty, in compliance with the Constitution, the laws of our land and the directives of the commander.”
Mr. Hegseth also said that the Pentagon will “absolutely continue” to use military aircraft to deport undocumented migrants from the United States. The military’s participation in these flights started last week; in the past, they had been carried out by commercial and charter flights.
On Sunday, under threats from Mr. Trump that included steep tariffs, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia relented and agreed to allow U.S. military planes to fly deportees into the country, after turning two transports back in response to what Mr. Petro called inhumane treatment.
Mr. Hegseth was greeted at the Pentagon’s River Entrance at about 9 a.m. on Monday by Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Hegseth has suggested that General Brown, a four-star fighter pilot with decades of military experience, should be fired. But when asked if he would do that, Mr. Hegseth patted General Brown on the shoulder. “We’re in capable hands,” he said.
“Our job is lethality and readiness and for fighting,” said Mr. Hegseth who has vowed to bring a “warrior ethos” to the U.S. military but has yet to provide details. “We’re going to hold people accountable.”
