The Charlie Kirk Show - The American Military, Made Great Again ft. Secretary Pete Hegseth

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio.

00:00:04.000 My interview with the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hagseth.

00:00:07.000 You're going to love this conversation.

00:00:09.000 We go back and forth about recruitment, about wokeism, and the inside story.

00:00:13.000 What happened with this strike in Iran?

00:00:15.000 Email us as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:00:18.000 Become a member today, members.charliekirk.com, and get involved with Turning PointUSA Today at tpusa.com.

00:00:24.000 That is tpusa.com.

00:00:27.000 Here we go.

00:00:27.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:28.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:30.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:32.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:36.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:39.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:40.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:41.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.

00:00:49.000 We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.

00:00:58.000 That's why we are here.

00:01:02.000 Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of the Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals.

00:01:12.000 Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:18.000 That is noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:20.000 It's where I buy all of my gold.

00:01:22.000 Go to noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:27.000 So I, this is a, you could call it a live podcast taping, and all for our members here.

00:01:32.000 And then, Pete, you'll go up on stage and you'll enjoy the 7,000 people we have for you.

00:01:38.000 First of all, Pete, you're doing a phenomenal job.

00:01:40.000 I just want to say that from the American people that you don't get the credit that you deserve, obviously, in the mainstream media.

00:01:47.000 I mean, you've been in this job for now a couple months.

00:01:51.000 Like, just catch us up to speed.

00:01:52.000 I mean, this is, you're running the world's largest and greatest military.

00:01:56.000 Tell us, how's life?

00:01:58.000 Well, thank you, Charlie, and thanks for everything you do.

00:02:00.000 It is, I mean, it's the honor of a lifetime, and glory to God for the opportunity to do it, to serve our warfighters, to serve a department that was ill-served under the previous administration and under Obama to Biden and was left looking for leadership.

00:02:19.000 And they found it in a commander-in-chief in President Trump who sets the tone.

00:02:23.000 I mean, really, anything is possible when you have a fearless leader at the top.

00:02:28.000 Amen.

00:02:28.000 And so when he, the shield that he provides gives me an opportunity to say, what is the art of the possible about how we restore the warrior ethos and rebuild the military and reestablish deterrence and put America first with common sense and peace through strength?

00:02:44.000 You can do those things when you've got a boss that has your back.

00:02:47.000 And that's why my message to the troops is always, guys, gals, he has your back, and so do I. So go do the tough things on behalf of the nation.

00:02:56.000 And we're going to give you what you need.

00:02:57.000 We're going to give you clarity in the mission.

00:02:58.000 We're not going to start things we can't finish, clear objectives that advance the national interest.

00:03:04.000 So it has been an honor.

00:03:06.000 We are full speed ahead.

00:03:07.000 We're going to keep going, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity.

00:03:11.000 Talk about recruitment.

00:03:13.000 This is one of the greatest things.

00:03:14.000 Recruitment is at record numbers, is that correct?

00:03:16.000 It is.

00:03:17.000 And by the way, you know, we have young men that were coming up to us at our chapter leadership summit saying, I'm going to sign up for the military because I believe President Trump has the country's best interests and they're inspired by you.

00:03:27.000 Walk through the numbers of how recruitment is going right now.

00:03:29.000 Well, I think we do have a room full of 15, 16, and 17-year-olds.

00:03:35.000 Future potential members of the military.

00:03:35.000 Future members.

00:03:38.000 So it's a target-rich environment, as we say.

00:03:40.000 But it has been incredible to watch young Americans respond to the leadership of President Trump and then what we're doing at the department.

00:03:49.000 And a lot of it is the family business, too.

00:03:51.000 I mean, one of the challenges I saw when I wrote the book, The War on Warriors, and just inside military formations, is you had men and women who have served who were starting to say, I don't know that I can recommend to my kids or grandkids that they serve because of what's been done to the military.

00:04:07.000 And seeing that generational change where vets and others are saying, I see what you guys are doing.

00:04:13.000 I like it.

00:04:13.000 I get it.

00:04:14.000 And I'm going to encourage my kids and grandkids to go serve is an honor.

00:04:18.000 And so the reaction has been incredible.

00:04:20.000 I mean, it's not like this.

00:04:22.000 I mean, it's a rocket ship from November.

00:04:24.000 So what are some of those numbers?

00:04:26.000 I think you hit the recruitment goal like nine months early.

00:04:28.000 We hit the Army recruiting goal.

00:04:30.000 I mean, we hit the Army recruiting goal four or five months early.

00:04:33.000 We hit the, and the Marine Corps always hits its goal.

00:04:36.000 You know why the Marine Corps hits its goal?

00:04:38.000 And I'm not allowed to be biased anymore.

00:04:39.000 I have to be bipartisan across the services.

00:04:42.000 Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space.

00:04:44.000 Because the Marine Corps stuck to its core function, you know, from the beginning, of high standards of lethality.

00:04:51.000 And young men and women are attracted to excellence.

00:04:54.000 And so that was a recruiting option and opportunity they maintained.

00:04:59.000 But we saw it in the Air Force, Space Force, and Navy where they've hit record numbers as well.

00:05:03.000 So across the board, recruiting at record levels, it's almost like, and we have, you know, President Trump understands polls.

00:05:10.000 It's about the best poll you could get from the American people.

00:05:13.000 Are we willing to give our sons and daughters to Uncle Sam for military service?

00:05:18.000 Amen.

00:05:19.000 And that response has been really important.

00:05:21.000 And they were at troubling lows under Biden, is that right?

00:05:24.000 Not just troubling lows, but lows, they couldn't meet the numbers even close.

00:05:30.000 And so what they did to try to game the system was lower the numbers by tens of thousands of recruits for goals for the next year.

00:05:37.000 And then they couldn't meet that.

00:05:39.000 So they weren't even meeting the lowered goals of what.

00:05:42.000 And does it surprise anybody?

00:05:43.000 I mean, you had videos, recruiting videos that were like, I signed up because I have two mommies.

00:05:49.000 That's right.

00:05:50.000 And they were cartoons of this.

00:05:52.000 Yes, there were cartoons of this.

00:05:53.000 Opposed that with like, you should sign up because you can do something tough and meaningful and purposeful on behalf of your country.

00:06:02.000 That is what we believe the patriots of America are attracted to, and you've seen it.

00:06:06.000 And I know, correct me if I'm wrong, war games are up, right?

00:06:08.000 Efficiency is up.

00:06:10.000 Recruitment, as I mentioned, is up.

00:06:11.000 We're getting wokeness totally out of the military.

00:06:14.000 So kind of give us, and by the way, this is lesser reported of what's so great about the military is when you have someone like Pete, you can actually remove stuff pretty quick as long as the courts don't get in the way, right?

00:06:23.000 Is that you've been able to remove a lot of the wokeness very quickly. 0.99

00:06:27.000 I mean, we went because we are a top-down Organization, which is part of the reason why they were able to insert a lot of the woke nonsense so quickly.

00:06:37.000 Because it was either comply, follow lawful orders from a previous commander-in-chief on these woke ideological gender stuff, DEI stuff, critical race theory stuff, or you're out.

00:06:48.000 And so you have a lot of folks that probably didn't want to go along with it, but they wanted to continue to serve, and so they did.

00:06:54.000 So in many parts of the government, it's been a hostile takeover, right?

00:06:58.000 You think of other departments, education department, labor department, HHS, you name it, it's a fight, right?

00:07:04.000 I feel like for the most part at the Defense Department, it's been a liberation exercise.

00:07:09.000 It has been.

00:07:09.000 That's not the Department of Education.

00:07:11.000 No, it's not.

00:07:12.000 Because the vast majority of the men and women, and there's problem sets and we've fired folks and for the right reasons, but the vast majority of folks in uniform and contractors and civilians that work at DOD are patriots who want to do right by the nation.

00:07:25.000 And it's not because they're Republicans or Democrats.

00:07:28.000 It's because they want to serve the country and serve our warfighters.

00:07:31.000 And so we've gotten the politics, the ideology, the climate worship, the gender confusion. 0.98

00:07:38.000 All the woke crap is out. 0.96

00:07:40.000 It's, and we, we've, quickly and aggressively. 0.98

00:07:52.000 We want the best of the best in any position, and people respond to that.

00:07:59.000 Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion.

00:08:03.000 WhyReFi refinances private student loan debt, and they do not care what your credit score is.

00:08:08.000 Many clients aren't even able to make the minimum monthly payment on their private student loans when they first contact YReFi.

00:08:13.000 Go to YReFi.com.

00:08:14.000 That is YREFY.com.

00:08:16.000 You don't have to ignore that mountain of student loan statements on your kitchen table anymore.

00:08:20.000 So go to whyrefi.com.

00:08:22.000 Do you have a co-borrower?

00:08:22.000 Well, whyRefi can get them released from the loan and you can give mom or dad a break.

00:08:26.000 Go to whyrefi.com.

00:08:28.000 Can you imagine being debt-free and not living under this burden anymore?

00:08:31.000 So go to yrefi.com.

00:08:33.000 That is why.com.

00:08:35.000 And let's face it, if you have distress or defaulted private student loans, there's no better place to go than whyReFi.

00:08:41.000 They provide you with a custom loan payment based on your ability to pay.

00:08:43.000 They're not a debt settlement company.

00:08:45.000 So check it out right now at yrefi.com.

00:08:48.000 May not be available in all 50 states.

00:08:49.000 Go to yrefi.com.

00:08:50.000 That is yrefy.com.

00:08:54.000 And physical fitness standards, I think you made egalitarian across the board, right?

00:08:58.000 No special accommodation.

00:08:59.000 Yeah, I mean, if you're in a combat, this is such, this is.

00:09:03.000 I'm sorry you have to explain this.

00:09:04.000 It's all common sense stuff.

00:09:05.000 Everyone listening here understands this.

00:09:07.000 Like if you're on the battlefield, a 155 round or a rucksack or a human being or, you know, lifting something, it doesn't care if you're a man or a woman.

00:09:18.000 Doesn't care.

00:09:19.000 Can you execute or not?

00:09:22.000 And that's the standards we're injecting into physical fitness, into combat standards, into preparedness standards.

00:09:27.000 And if high-speed individuals from any background can make it, great.

00:09:31.000 But if you can't cut it, you're not going to be in the infantry or you're not going to be in special forces because we need the best of the best.

00:09:37.000 So it's common sense application of stuff that a lot of folks are responding to.

00:09:42.000 And we see the morale go.

00:09:44.000 How has this been received?

00:09:45.000 You think it's Liberation Day?

00:09:47.000 There's a lot of thank yous, I'm sure.

00:09:49.000 A lot of gratitude.

00:09:50.000 And at least that's what I'm getting from the grassroots, like finally, because it was going in a very trepidatious direction where the military felt like a social experiment under Biden.

00:10:00.000 I got to be honest, Pete, regardless of people's opinion of what happened, I think President Trump handled it beautifully with Iran.

00:10:07.000 It gave me faith back in our military, though, that we were able to fly bombers from Missouri all the way across the world.

00:10:14.000 Can you just go bring us as much as you can?

00:10:16.000 I know you got plenty of classified information, but bring us into the mindset, into how spectacular of a military operation that was.

00:10:23.000 All public stuff, you know.

00:10:25.000 Because I think it's time to brag on our military, because from the refueling to the stamina, no military in the world could have done this.

00:10:33.000 Not only could no military in the world do this, it's not even close.

00:10:37.000 Let alone do it and do it effectively and nearly flawlessly, while some deception operations, some of which are classified, ensured that the eyes of the world were somewhere else.

00:10:49.000 And Iran and their allies, no one in the world had any idea that our seven B-2 bombers, escorted by dozens and dozens of refuelers, what it takes for them to fly across the country. 0.95

00:11:01.000 Explain that, the whole refueling?

00:11:03.000 If you've never seen it, Google it.

00:11:05.000 I've had a chance to watch it in the cockpit.

00:11:08.000 I mean, you're going 500 miles an hour.

00:11:10.000 You're connecting with basically a flying gas station, which pumps fuel into the B-2s, but also the fighters, while you're flying 500, 600 miles an hour.

00:11:19.000 There's basically no room for error.

00:11:21.000 There can be turbulence.

00:11:23.000 It's in the middle of the night.

00:11:24.000 There's other bombers, other B-2s, other fighters.

00:11:27.000 I mean, the precision of our men and women that go into the ability to do that and do that.

00:11:31.000 Does any other military in the world be able to do that?

00:11:34.000 No. 36 hours refueling?

00:11:36.000 No, I mean, there are refuelers.

00:11:38.000 Sure, but nothing like that.

00:11:39.000 Nothing like what we are able to do.

00:11:40.000 And by the way, the B-2, as beautiful as the B-2 is, is we already have online the next generation of the B-2, the B-21, which is publicly known.

00:11:50.000 I mean, we're not stopping at where we are.

00:11:52.000 We're staying ahead with where we're going to include the F-47, which we announced, the sixth-generation fighter jet, even more stealth, even more capable than the F-35.

00:12:01.000 So, I mean, it's the best tools in the world in the hands of the best warfighters.

00:12:07.000 And President Trump gave him very clear guidance.

00:12:09.000 They trained on this for years and years.

00:12:12.000 The munitions we used were specifically designated, as Raisin Kane pointed out, for that target.

00:12:19.000 And you had the fighter jets, the deception, the ability to fly.

00:12:24.000 I mean, we were watching in real time in the situation room as it was going on, the 30 tomahawks shot from a submarine in real time that hit simultaneously with our bombers coming in.

00:12:36.000 Iran didn't see any of it, and the world didn't know until President Trump put out a truth, which is exactly how you want it to be. 0.69

00:12:47.000 Our boys and bombers, as I said at the press conference, and then the media was like, you can't call them boys and bombers.

00:12:51.000 There were two female pilots. 1.00

00:12:53.000 I'm like, I know.

00:12:55.000 It's called the turn of a phrase, and by the chance...

00:13:00.000 Exactly.

00:13:00.000 But I actually got to meet those two female pilots who were incredible, by the way, and said, thank you for what you said.

00:13:06.000 They're amazing.

00:13:07.000 It was just, it was awe-inspiring and breathtaking.

00:13:10.000 And it wasn't just Fordot, Natans, and Esfahan, the three nuclear sites that felt it that night.

00:13:16.000 It was the whole world.

00:13:17.000 And it was a huge step in reestablishing deterrence so that the world understands, you know, the Afghanistan debacle you saw under Biden is not the reality of the world under President Trump.

00:13:17.000 Totally.

00:13:29.000 And that's how you get peace through strength.

00:13:32.000 Adversaries that understand you want peace, but you will use strength.

00:13:35.000 And there's no troops on the ground, no U.S. troops dead, no nukes for Iran, no endless war, no Middle East conflict, no regime change.

00:13:44.000 That's pretty awesome.

00:13:45.000 I mean, it pretty satisfies, at least in my, every criteria I would possibly have.

00:13:50.000 And so, Pete, here's a silly question.

00:13:52.000 Did they really not use the restroom for 36 hours? 0.84

00:13:56.000 That capability is classified.

00:13:58.000 Ah, okay.

00:14:00.000 The restroom is classified.

00:14:01.000 Or not, or lack thereof.

00:14:03.000 Let's just say they have ways around it, yes.

00:14:05.000 Okay, good.

00:14:06.000 But no, I just want to reinforce what I said, because I'll be honest, I was starting to lose faith in the capability of our military under Biden.

00:14:15.000 I don't know if you guys in the audience felt the same, but it was like so woke.

00:14:19.000 It was just refreshing.

00:14:21.000 Like, wow, we had a seamless intercontinental multi-day military operation that couldn't have gone better.

00:14:28.000 I mean, it was a 10.

00:14:29.000 It was absolutely a 10.

00:14:31.000 And it does go to the skill of from the CENTCOM commander down to all the wing commanders to the base commanders to the air defenders with the Patriot missile systems.

00:14:41.000 But what we keep hearing time and time again is morale is up because we're being allowed to do our job.

00:14:48.000 To go back to the basics and focus on what we do well, which is train, be ready, hold people accountable.

00:14:54.000 You've untied our hands.

00:14:56.000 You hear that from our counterterrorism folks that are ensuring that ISIS stays at bay in limited places we don't even know about. 0.56

00:15:01.000 Hey, we have authorities we didn't have before, so that they're on the run as well.

00:15:05.000 So it's actually, you have a military prepared and raring to go with the right kind of leadership.

00:15:14.000 Ask 10 people to define the word capitalism.

00:15:16.000 How many different responses do you think you'll get?

00:15:18.000 This is a word that comes up all the time, but does anyone know what it really means?

00:15:23.000 Do you?

00:15:23.000 Hillsdale College offers more than 40 free online courses.

00:15:27.000 That's right, free online courses on subjects like the book of Genesis, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the history of the ancient Christian church.

00:15:35.000 It's hard for me to even say which is my personal favorite.

00:15:37.000 You guys have got to take these online courses.

00:15:40.000 They've recently launched a new course, Understanding Capitalism, that I've been watching.

00:15:44.000 In seven lectures, you'll learn about the role of profit and loss, how human nature plays a part in our economic system, why capitalism depends on private property rights, the rule of law, and above all, freedom.

00:15:55.000 And why capitalism is ultimately a system that encourages morality rather than undermines it.

00:16:00.000 Right now, go to charlieforhillsdale.com to enroll.

00:16:03.000 There's no cost, and it's easy to get started.

00:16:05.000 That's charlieforhillsdale.com, the register.

00:16:08.000 C-H-A-R-L-I-E for Hillsdale.com.

00:16:13.000 You mentioned something, and again, I never want to put you on the spot on stuff you can't talk about, but you said it established deterrence.

00:16:18.000 I think it was a shot hurt around the world.

00:16:19.000 I think our other adversaries were studying it closely, especially China, and they were just flummoxed by this.

00:16:26.000 Can you elaborate that to the best ability that you can?

00:16:29.000 Well, I mean, nothing happens in a vacuum.

00:16:31.000 Just like Afghanistan didn't happen in a vacuum.

00:16:33.000 So what happened after Afghanistan?

00:16:36.000 You had Ukraine, you had October 7th, you had Vladimir Putin, and you had Hamas, who believed they were emboldened in a world where America looked weak.

00:16:45.000 I think the actions, not just of this B-2 of Operation Midnight Hammer, which is the primary, but even our campaign against the Houthis, which went on for 50 days or so, we've since learned reflections.

00:16:56.000 Part of the reason the Houthis didn't join in with any real solidarity on the Iran effort is because they've been decimated in their capabilities.

00:17:04.000 They'll bark a lot, but they know exactly what they can't do and how decimated they are.

00:17:09.000 It's just like Iran. 0.99

00:17:10.000 They're going to bark, but when they shot those 14 missiles at our base, as President Trump has said, they told us where they were shooting and when they were shooting to make sure we would shoot them down because they didn't want an escalation and because they understand what we're capable of.

00:17:25.000 They saw what happened.

00:17:25.000 And I don't say that in any cavalier sense.

00:17:28.000 President Trump used that moment alongside what Israel did so successfully to bring about peace.

00:17:34.000 We have a chance now for a deal that ensures Iran doesn't have nuclear capabilities and we have a peace, something that wasn't possible before that. 0.86

00:17:42.000 Same thing with the Houthis, the reality that under Joe Biden, we allowed our ships to get shot at with no consequence. 0.96

00:17:50.000 We can't live in a world where American military ships are shot at and nothing happens, or you just shoot an empty building.

00:17:55.000 President Trump said, change that dynamic.

00:17:58.000 We unleashed CENTCOM to do that.

00:18:00.000 They very effectively did it.

00:18:02.000 And the Houthis came to us and said, no, Moss, we're uncle.

00:18:05.000 We cry, uncle, we're done.

00:18:07.000 We're not going to shoot at your ships anymore.

00:18:08.000 And our ships have transited the BAM freely and successfully.

00:18:12.000 That's a reestablishment of American leadership that isn't entanglement or seeking escalation or seeking a prolonged conflict.

00:18:20.000 It's meant to send a very direct message with a very discreet mission, which I think serves our warfighters well as well.

00:18:27.000 So we're running out of time here.

00:18:29.000 And by the way, Pete, thank you for taking time to speak to all of our students.

00:18:32.000 I mean, so many people, when they go in government, they kind of like forget where they came from.

00:18:36.000 You know, Pete has come to like every turning point event over the last 10 years.

00:18:39.000 This guy's a machine.

00:18:44.000 And I'll tell you, anybody that routinely would host Fox and Friends weekend and get up at 3.30 in the morning, that's how I know you were cut out for the job, because that's no joke.

00:18:53.000 But Pete, you made an announcement, I think yesterday, the day before, that's a little wonky, but it's actually one of the most important things I've heard from our government, which is he who controls the drones controls the future.

00:19:02.000 And if you don't make your own drones, you're actually going to be a vassal state to those who make the drones.

00:19:07.000 And I know this, like, some in the audience might say, what are you talking about?

00:19:10.000 This is one of the most important things.

00:19:12.000 I think it's all about AI and drones going forward for defense.

00:19:15.000 I don't know if you agree with that, Pete, or not, but you signed, it wasn't an executive order, it was proclamation, something with drones.

00:19:20.000 Pretty awesome video.

00:19:22.000 What is the significance for American security for drone technology?

00:19:25.000 And what did you announce?

00:19:27.000 Well, you unleash American innovation to actually not just scale up, but outscale our adversaries who just look at where warfare is and where it's going.

00:19:37.000 It's going to be AI-enabled and it's going to be drone-fueled, and you're seeing it right now.

00:19:41.000 And we can either sit back and fight the way we think we should, or we wanted to, or we thought warfare was going, or recognize where it's going and outpace our adversaries.

00:19:49.000 And we have the economic engine, the defense industrial base, to do that.

00:19:53.000 But the Defense Department, especially under the previous administration, can be very good at being a big, bloated bureaucracy that defeats itself.

00:20:01.000 And so it creates lots of rules, lots of restrictions, lots of red tape, lots of reasons why.

00:20:07.000 I mean, I can go through two or three examples, but I'll spare you, that held back our ability to make cheap, attritable, American-made drones that you can use as one-way attack.

00:20:17.000 You can use for surveillance.

00:20:18.000 You can use for ISR.

00:20:19.000 You can use small unit level.

00:20:21.000 I mean, some are this big, some are big.

00:20:23.000 Well, the Chinese have a B that they've created. 1.00

00:20:26.000 The Chinese, the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Iranians. 0.60

00:20:30.000 I mean, there's innovations happening.

00:20:32.000 We need to be in front of that, and we will be quickly.

00:20:34.000 And this only unleashes us to do that.

00:20:36.000 So you look at that.

00:20:37.000 You look at AI.

00:20:38.000 You look at computing.

00:20:39.000 You look at hypersonics.

00:20:42.000 You name it.

00:20:43.000 We are unleashing innovators by thinking outside the box, taking off the shelf, incentivizing private industry to compete in a way that DOD has never done before and is required because of the environment we live in.

00:20:56.000 America either leads or we're left without options. 0.60

00:21:00.000 And the reason we had a B-2 that could do that is because someone 40 years ago was willing to say, this is a technology of the future that will put decisions in the hands of presidents.

00:21:11.000 And our job is to look around the corner and say, what are the technologies of the future that somebody 40 years from now is going to use?

00:21:18.000 And hopefully they look back and say, Secretary Hegseth and that generation saw the value in that, invested in it, even though I'm never going to see it while I'm the Secretary of Defense.

00:21:26.000 And so that's part of putting your shoulder to the plow for.

00:21:29.000 And you think about the profundity of that.

00:21:30.000 Someone 40 years ago gave President Trump the ability to remove a nuclear program with no troops, no endless war, no quagmire, no U.S. troops dead.

00:21:38.000 40 years ago, you would have had to have bodies and boots on the ground, right?

00:21:41.000 Or you'd have to at least have some stationed aircraft.

00:21:44.000 It would have been impossible.

00:21:45.000 Final question, and I know we've got to go.

00:21:46.000 We're getting the yank here.

00:21:48.000 Pete, you're about to address our 7,000 students.

00:21:50.000 Give us a little preview.

00:21:51.000 What's your message to these students going to be?

00:21:53.000 You're going to do a little recruiting, and then a little bit of a pump-up.

00:21:58.000 What's your message to these students, and generally the people watching at home?

00:22:00.000 What is your message to the young people of this country?

00:22:03.000 Well, the overall message of this administration is, hey, we are putting America first.

00:22:08.000 It is peace through strength, and it's the application of common sense.

00:22:10.000 But also, I'm going to start by talking about, hey, yeah, I got an incredible, I've been gifted with an incredible day job on behalf of our warfighters.

00:22:18.000 But ultimately, you know, it's about God and family first.

00:22:22.000 And that understanding.

00:22:27.000 And I don't, you know, we all get caught up in what we're doing and where we're going and the purpose life we want to live.

00:22:34.000 But what's really important, a quick reminder up front with that, and then maybe we'll tell a few fun stories because I know when I'm talking to my kids, they don't want to hear what I have, they don't want to hear about my throne memo.

00:22:45.000 They want to hear a few good stories too.

00:22:47.000 So we'll do a little bit of that too.

00:22:49.000 Pete, thank you.

00:22:50.000 We have your back.

00:22:51.000 I just want you to know that millions of people are praying for you.

00:22:53.000 They're in the trenches for you.

00:22:55.000 We had your back during the not boring confirmation fight.

00:22:59.000 And Pete.

00:23:00.000 And by the way, thank you for the prayers.

00:23:02.000 So many people tell me that, and it means everything.

00:23:06.000 God bless you, Pete Hegseth.

00:23:08.000 Thank you guys so much.

00:23:11.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:23:12.000 Email us as alwaysfreedom at charliekirk.com.

00:23:14.000 Thanks so much for listening.

00:23:16.000 God bless.

The Charlie Kirk Show - July 16, 2025

The American Military, Made Great Again ft. Secretary Pete Hegseth

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript