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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday morning delivered a press briefing at the Pentagon, giving Americans a critical update on the progress of Operation Epic Fury as the nation hit the 19th day of combat.
“Yesterday at Dover Air Force Base, President Trump, the Chairman, and I stood in solemn silence as heroes came home,” Secretary Hegseth said. “Flag-draped caskets. We honored them, we grieved with their families, and we listened. What I heard – through tears, through hugs, through strength, and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family: they said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice, do not waver, do not stop, until the job is done.’”
On Wednesday, the president and his military leadership team attended the dignified transfer of six U.S. servicemembers who were killed in a tragic military aircraft crash in Iraq, bringing the casualty count of this combat operation to 13. It was also the second such ceremony President Trump has attended since the onset of this violent conflict against Iran.
During his press briefing on Thursday, Secretary Hegseth said the deaths of American heroes only “steels our resolve.” He also slammed the mainstream media for attempting to “downplay the progress, amplify every cost, and call into question every step” of the operation, noting that most outlets “want President Trump to fail.”
Hegseth spoke past the reporters on Thursday and instead pitched to the American people.
“The media here – not all of it, but much of it – wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we are somehow spinning toward an endless abyss, or a forever war, or a quagmire,” he stated. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Hear it from me, one of hundreds of thousands who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, who watched foolish politicians like Bush, Obama, and Biden squander American credibility, treasure, and troops – this is NOT those wars. President Trump knows better. Epic Fury is different; it’s laser-focused, it’s decisive. Our objectives, given directly from our America First president, remain exactly what they were on day one.”
To reiterate those objectives, he listed the oft-repeated goals of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile cache and defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild, destroy the Iranian Navy, and ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
“To the patriotic members of the press, nobody can deliver perfection in wartime…but report the reality: we’re winning decisively, and on our terms,” Hegseth argued.
He noted that the U.S. had struck over 7,000 targets so far in Iran. The Pentagon has also seen a 90 percent reduction in Iranian ballistic missile attacks, and a 90 percent drop in “kamikaze” or “one-way” drone attacks, he said.
“They would shoot a lot more if they could, but they can’t,” Hegseth quipped.
The U.S. military has also damaged or sunk more than 120 of Iran’s naval vessels, he confirmed, reiterating CENTCOM’s data from Wednesday.
And, according to the secretary, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij are running for cover.
“The last job anyone in the world wants right now: senior leader for the IRGC or Basij,” he said. “Temp jobs. All of them.”
