Hegseth mentions ‘war plans’ in Manila visit

Manila Bulletin

Amid controversies about the reported leak of a war plan in Yemen, United States Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Pete Hegseth briefly discussed Friday, March 28, America's “war plans” to assist the Philippines amid the tense situation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). (MB video by Martin Sadongdong)  READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/28/hegseth-mentions-war-plans-in-manila-visit  Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin  Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin  #ManilaBulletinOnline #ManilaBulletin #LatestNews

Transcript

00:00What we're dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, a weakness

00:10that we need to reestablish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe, but permanently

00:17today for this region.

00:20There was a lot of talk about shifting, a lot of talk about emphasis on the Indo-Pacific,

00:25a lot of talk about allies, what the Trump administration will do is deliver, is truly

00:30prioritize and shift this region to the world in a way that is unprecedented to match the

00:37threats of the future, with the recognition that for the 21st century to be a free century,

00:43America needs to stand alongside our allies and partners, shoulder to shoulder.

00:49Today it's the Philippines, tomorrow it's Japan, will be Australia and South Korea and

00:54other nations in this part of the world, where together, by, with and through, we will

01:01establish the deterrence necessary to prevent war.

01:04You mentioned the Second Fleet.

01:07It's not my job to determine where the Second Fleet goes, I defer to Admiral Paparro and

01:15his war plans, real war plans.

01:20Admiral Paparro understands the situation, understands the geographic significance, understands

01:26the urgency and is prepared to work with those in the region to ensure we are leaning forward

01:33in our posture, not waiting for events to develop, not retrograding to places further

01:41from the front, but deploying capabilities forward, posturing and creating dynamics and

01:46strategic dilemmas for the Communist Chinese that help them reconsider whether or not

01:53violence or action is something they want to undertake.

01:55Again, President Trump is a peacemaker.

02:00President Trump seeks peace.

02:02That's my message here as well.

02:05But in order to bring that peace, we will be strong.

02:09Our allies will know we stand with them.

02:12Our admirals are prepared and they will be properly equipped.

02:16We're rebuilding our military under President Trump, reviving that warrior ethos across

02:21the force.

02:22You know, I look out at the men and women of our military, many of which I did PT with

02:26this morning, younger and more fit than their secretary.

02:33And I see mechanics, I see special operators, I see lawyers, I see fuelers, I see pilots.

02:42I see sailors, all with different jobs.

02:46What I ultimately see are warriors in the profession of arms, here deployed forward

02:52with our allies, postured and prepared to deter war.

02:56So Admiral Caparro is exactly where we need him to be, with contingencies laid in place,

03:02and we will be positioned to stand with our partners, hopefully to prevent any conflict at all.

03:06We don't fall on Mr. Chad Williams so much on his front list.

03:12I'll ask his question.

03:15This is for Senator Ray Hedger.

03:17You gave a speech last month at a Pentagon town hall where you specifically talked at

03:25length about accountability.

03:27And I'm wondering, including even the smallest things you said, and I'm wondering if now

03:34that we have the U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee asking for a report into this civil

03:39war controversy, if you feel, as our leader in the Defense Department, you have any level

03:44of responsibility for what Marco Rubio and some other people have called a mistake.

03:49Thank you for the question.

03:51I'm responsible for ensuring that our Department is prepared and ready to deter and defeat

03:56our enemies.

03:57And I'm quite proud, quite proud of what our forces in CENTCOM did on that initial

04:04series of very effective and devastating strikes and the ongoing campaign that we are undertaking

04:11because that is a, again, on the backs of four years of deferred maintenance and failure

04:16and weakness of the Biden administration, we are reestablishing deterrence.

04:21And as the leader of that department, my job is to advise, work alongside the President,

04:25and then work with my fellow cabinet members to ensure that we're operationalizing in

04:30every way possible, reestablishing that deterrence.

04:35So we will ensure that freedom of navigation returns to that part of the world, just as

04:40pertinent to our conversation today, freedom of navigation is something the Philippines

04:44experiences in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea.

04:50It's something we take very seriously.

04:53So we'll go with Kazu next.

04:58Thank you so much for having us today.

05:00So I am Christian for...

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