21, 2026, in Washington. President Donald Trump looks to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he speaks at a roundtable event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Oct.
He claimed the operation in Venezuela was completed in 48 minutes without any American fatalities, describing it as one of the greatest attacks witnessed.
When asked whether he was considering changes to his administration, particularly at the Pentagon, Trump dismissed criticism of Hegseth and said the defence chief had performed “a fantastic job”. I think he’s done a fantastic job,” Trump said. US President Donald Trump has defended secretary of war Pete Hegseth amid calls for his resignation and impeachment, praising his work and backing the US military operations in Iran and Venezuela. “United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, has done a fantastic job. Now, it’s got some interesting things. You know, we had more generals than we did in World War II. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general, and so he probably has opposition. The president also sought to defend his administration’s military record, citing operations involving Venezuela and Iran as evidence of the Pentagon’s performance.
The pressure on Hegseth comes in the aftermath of the November 3 midterm elections, in which Republican losses are expected to strengthen Democratic oversight of the Trump administration. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said on November 4 that he would not reintroduce impeachment articles against Hegseth if the Pentagon chief resigned. Trump’s public endorsement comes as Hegseth faces growing scrutiny from lawmakers over the administration’s handling of the Iran conflict, with members of Congress calling for his removal.