1 00:00:01,679 --> 00:00:03,790 Greetings once again from the Defense 2 00:00:03,790 --> 00:00:06,068 Department . You , the American people , 3 00:00:06,068 --> 00:00:08,290 work really hard to support the men and 4 00:00:08,290 --> 00:00:10,401 women in uniform who keep our country 5 00:00:10,401 --> 00:00:12,640 safe . We in turn owe you transparency 6 00:00:12,930 --> 00:00:15,041 on what we're doing to accomplish our 7 00:00:15,041 --> 00:00:17,097 core mission , which is securing the 8 00:00:17,097 --> 00:00:18,986 nation and spending your taxpayer 9 00:00:18,986 --> 00:00:21,219 dollars , ours wisely . We're gonna 10 00:00:21,219 --> 00:00:23,441 shoot straight with you . We want you , 11 00:00:23,441 --> 00:00:25,608 the American people , the taxpayers to 12 00:00:25,608 --> 00:00:27,386 understand why we're making the 13 00:00:27,386 --> 00:00:29,552 decisions that we're making here first 14 00:00:29,552 --> 00:00:31,497 and foremost as we're executing as 15 00:00:31,497 --> 00:00:33,608 quickly as possible the priorities of 16 00:00:33,608 --> 00:00:35,775 President Donald Trump achieving peace 17 00:00:35,775 --> 00:00:37,608 through strength , restoring the 18 00:00:37,608 --> 00:00:39,830 warrior ethos , rebuilding our military 19 00:00:39,830 --> 00:00:42,052 and reestablishing deterrence those are 20 00:00:42,052 --> 00:00:44,052 no brainers and the American people 21 00:00:44,052 --> 00:00:46,163 gave a mandate to President Trump and 22 00:00:46,163 --> 00:00:48,299 through him to us to double down on 23 00:00:48,299 --> 00:00:50,299 those priorities and that's exactly 24 00:00:50,299 --> 00:00:52,799 what we're doing . Now the legacy media 25 00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:55,150 has of course a different agenda . You 26 00:00:55,150 --> 00:00:57,372 see the same clickbait headlines that I 27 00:00:57,372 --> 00:00:59,549 do time after time the media distorts 28 00:00:59,549 --> 00:01:01,900 good news stories or often just gets 29 00:01:01,900 --> 00:01:04,730 them flat wrong . In many cases , well , 30 00:01:04,980 --> 00:01:06,980 in most cases they have an agenda . 31 00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:09,147 Other times they are just lazy as they 32 00:01:09,147 --> 00:01:11,369 often are , and they don't take time to 33 00:01:11,369 --> 00:01:13,339 actually understand the facts . I 34 00:01:13,339 --> 00:01:15,283 encourage you to take that media , 35 00:01:15,379 --> 00:01:17,650 those negative reports about important 36 00:01:17,650 --> 00:01:19,594 decisions that we're making at the 37 00:01:19,594 --> 00:01:21,620 department with a gigantic grain of 38 00:01:21,620 --> 00:01:24,389 salt , please . Ever since I've taken 39 00:01:24,389 --> 00:01:26,500 this position , the only thing I care 40 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:28,360 about is doing right by the war 41 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,110 fighters , by the troops . In short , 42 00:01:31,430 --> 00:01:33,949 we want the biggest , most badass 43 00:01:33,949 --> 00:01:36,790 military on the planet on God's green 44 00:01:36,790 --> 00:01:39,220 earth . I'm in this room right now , 45 00:01:39,230 --> 00:01:41,379 but I'm not alone . Behind the camera 46 00:01:41,580 --> 00:01:43,636 are lots of vets and military family 47 00:01:43,636 --> 00:01:45,636 members along with other people who 48 00:01:45,636 --> 00:01:48,180 like you are invested in exactly what 49 00:01:48,180 --> 00:01:51,620 that core mission is . So when we make 50 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:53,731 decisions that are misreported in the 51 00:01:53,731 --> 00:01:55,731 media we're gonna try to get you as 52 00:01:55,731 --> 00:01:57,731 quickly as possible and not just me 53 00:01:57,731 --> 00:01:59,787 it'll be other people as well so you 54 00:01:59,787 --> 00:02:01,787 understand the real thought process 55 00:02:01,787 --> 00:02:04,009 behind them and then how they relate to 56 00:02:04,009 --> 00:02:05,842 our core mission of fighting and 57 00:02:05,842 --> 00:02:08,120 winning war , hopefully deterring them , 58 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,120 but fighting and winning wars , and 59 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,342 then how we spend your taxpayer dollars 60 00:02:12,342 --> 00:02:14,509 wisely to accomplish that mission . So 61 00:02:14,509 --> 00:02:16,731 to that end we have 3 stories that have 62 00:02:16,731 --> 00:02:16,419 come out , stay with me 3 stories over 63 00:02:16,419 --> 00:02:18,586 the past couple of days that I want to 64 00:02:18,586 --> 00:02:20,586 update you on . The first is Doge . 65 00:02:20,586 --> 00:02:22,641 They're here and we're wel welcoming 66 00:02:22,641 --> 00:02:24,863 them . In fact , right over there about 67 00:02:24,863 --> 00:02:27,086 20 minutes ago I just met with them and 68 00:02:27,086 --> 00:02:29,252 we're gonna be incorporating into what 69 00:02:29,252 --> 00:02:31,363 we're doing at DOD everything they're 70 00:02:31,363 --> 00:02:33,475 doing to find fraud , waste and abuse 71 00:02:33,475 --> 00:02:35,641 in the largest discretionary budget in 72 00:02:35,641 --> 00:02:37,808 the federal government . They're gonna 73 00:02:37,808 --> 00:02:40,270 have broad access obviously with all 74 00:02:40,270 --> 00:02:42,381 the safeguards on classification they 75 00:02:42,381 --> 00:02:44,437 know that many of them are vets they 76 00:02:44,437 --> 00:02:46,270 care just like we do to find the 77 00:02:46,270 --> 00:02:48,214 redundancies and identify the last 78 00:02:48,214 --> 00:02:50,990 vestiges of Biden priorities the DEI , 79 00:02:51,029 --> 00:02:53,509 the woke , the climate change BS that's 80 00:02:53,509 --> 00:02:55,550 not core to our mission . And we're 81 00:02:55,550 --> 00:02:58,110 gonna get rid of it all with Doge we're 82 00:02:58,110 --> 00:03:00,149 focusing as much as we can on 83 00:03:00,149 --> 00:03:03,029 headquarters and fat and redundancies 84 00:03:03,029 --> 00:03:05,110 and top line stuff that allows us to 85 00:03:05,110 --> 00:03:07,779 reinvest elsewhere . We welcome Doge 86 00:03:07,779 --> 00:03:09,890 and finding those efficiencies is how 87 00:03:09,890 --> 00:03:12,309 we save taxpayer dollars . That is a 88 00:03:12,309 --> 00:03:14,253 good thing that of course is being 89 00:03:14,253 --> 00:03:16,253 distorted through the media , their 90 00:03:16,253 --> 00:03:18,320 hyperventilation , and it just goes 91 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,542 entirely unreported for the most part . 92 00:03:20,710 --> 00:03:22,932 Now the second story , uh , in the news 93 00:03:22,932 --> 00:03:25,550 is our work reorienting the budget that 94 00:03:25,550 --> 00:03:27,883 we inherited . We inherited that budget . 95 00:03:28,589 --> 00:03:30,500 One month ago from the Biden 96 00:03:30,500 --> 00:03:32,940 administration . We are refocusing , 97 00:03:32,979 --> 00:03:35,201 that's a key word , our existing budget 98 00:03:35,201 --> 00:03:37,201 away from the Biden priorities that 99 00:03:37,201 --> 00:03:39,899 frankly were all over the map to 100 00:03:39,899 --> 00:03:41,699 President Trump's priorities of 101 00:03:41,699 --> 00:03:45,490 building a lethal fighting force . The 102 00:03:45,490 --> 00:03:47,601 media wants to call these exclusively 103 00:03:47,601 --> 00:03:50,440 cuts . But it's the opposite of course 104 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,759 as always is the case . I've got the 105 00:03:52,759 --> 00:03:56,309 memo right here it's clear as a bell 106 00:03:56,759 --> 00:03:58,981 now beginning right away we are pulling 107 00:03:59,139 --> 00:04:02,910 around 8% or $50 billion from the Biden 108 00:04:02,910 --> 00:04:04,688 budget . We're planning this is 109 00:04:04,688 --> 00:04:06,800 planning for this year that we will 110 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,050 move away from woke Biden era 111 00:04:09,050 --> 00:04:11,720 non-lethal programs and instead spend 112 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,479 that money on President Trump's America 113 00:04:14,479 --> 00:04:16,701 first peace through strength priorities 114 00:04:16,701 --> 00:04:18,979 for our national budget . First of all , 115 00:04:18,979 --> 00:04:21,090 remember this is all planning . We're 116 00:04:21,090 --> 00:04:23,201 asking the services to plan . So it's 117 00:04:23,201 --> 00:04:24,979 not a cut , it's refocusing and 118 00:04:24,979 --> 00:04:27,440 reinvesting existing funds into 119 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,496 building a force that protects you , 120 00:04:29,496 --> 00:04:31,970 the American people . We also list on 121 00:04:31,970 --> 00:04:34,649 page 2 , which I've marked up here in 122 00:04:34,649 --> 00:04:37,410 our memo , what is not part of the 8% 123 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:40,290 refocusing of funds . It's created very 124 00:04:40,290 --> 00:04:42,234 stated very clearly here Southwest 125 00:04:42,234 --> 00:04:43,901 border activities , combating 126 00:04:43,901 --> 00:04:45,957 transnational criminal organizations 127 00:04:45,957 --> 00:04:48,329 and audit , nuclear modernization , uh , 128 00:04:48,410 --> 00:04:50,577 Virginia class submarines , the Golden 129 00:04:50,577 --> 00:04:53,200 Dome or or Iron Dome , uh , one way 130 00:04:53,609 --> 00:04:56,170 attack drones , UAVs , cybersecurity , 131 00:04:56,290 --> 00:04:58,512 core readiness , training , the defense 132 00:04:58,512 --> 00:05:00,940 industrial base , and it goes on . They 133 00:05:00,940 --> 00:05:02,884 and other key programs are off the 134 00:05:02,884 --> 00:05:05,051 table under this program . They're too 135 00:05:05,051 --> 00:05:07,218 important , as are many other things . 136 00:05:07,218 --> 00:05:09,440 So this is great news for taxpayers and 137 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,496 for our national security . That's a 138 00:05:11,496 --> 00:05:13,662 full stop . We'll just put a period on 139 00:05:13,662 --> 00:05:15,718 that one . And third and the 3rd and 140 00:05:15,718 --> 00:05:17,884 final bogus story uh that is out there 141 00:05:18,029 --> 00:05:20,149 is around our reevaluation of our 142 00:05:20,149 --> 00:05:22,309 probationary workforce . Now this is 143 00:05:22,309 --> 00:05:24,476 part of something that was mandated by 144 00:05:24,476 --> 00:05:26,698 an executive order from the president . 145 00:05:26,698 --> 00:05:28,976 Remember , President Trump was elected . 146 00:05:28,976 --> 00:05:31,198 He is the positive , the prerogative to 147 00:05:31,198 --> 00:05:33,309 to advance executive orders . Our job 148 00:05:33,309 --> 00:05:35,587 is to follow them and we're doing that . 149 00:05:35,587 --> 00:05:37,476 This reevaluation of probationary 150 00:05:37,476 --> 00:05:39,198 employees is being done across 151 00:05:39,198 --> 00:05:41,253 government , not just at the Defense 152 00:05:41,253 --> 00:05:43,198 Department . But we believe in the 153 00:05:43,198 --> 00:05:45,253 goals of the program and our leaders 154 00:05:45,253 --> 00:05:47,420 are carrying out that review carefully 155 00:05:47,420 --> 00:05:49,531 and swiftly . Now bottom line , it is 156 00:05:49,531 --> 00:05:51,587 simply not in the public interest to 157 00:05:51,587 --> 00:05:53,753 retain individuals whose contributions 158 00:05:53,753 --> 00:05:56,059 are not mission critical and to restore 159 00:05:56,059 --> 00:05:58,059 accountability within the federal 160 00:05:58,059 --> 00:06:00,779 workforce . Taxpayers deserve to have 161 00:06:00,779 --> 00:06:03,859 us take a really thorough look at our 162 00:06:03,859 --> 00:06:06,179 workforce top to bottom and it will be 163 00:06:06,179 --> 00:06:08,820 top to bottom to see where we can find 164 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:11,700 and eliminate redundancies . Now common 165 00:06:11,700 --> 00:06:13,700 sense would tell us where we should 166 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:15,644 start , right ? We start with poor 167 00:06:15,644 --> 00:06:17,644 performers amongst our probationary 168 00:06:17,644 --> 00:06:19,811 employees because that is common sense 169 00:06:19,811 --> 00:06:19,649 and you want the best and brightest . 170 00:06:19,910 --> 00:06:22,077 So when you look at head count , we're 171 00:06:22,077 --> 00:06:24,132 gonna be thoughtful , but we're also 172 00:06:24,132 --> 00:06:26,132 gonna be aggressive up and down the 173 00:06:26,132 --> 00:06:28,243 chain to find the places where we can 174 00:06:28,243 --> 00:06:30,132 ensure the best and brightest are 175 00:06:30,132 --> 00:06:32,132 promoted based on merit . And never 176 00:06:32,132 --> 00:06:34,188 gonna go out , we're gonna put out a 177 00:06:34,188 --> 00:06:36,188 hiring freeze and take more time to 178 00:06:36,188 --> 00:06:38,410 identify on a performance-based 179 00:06:38,410 --> 00:06:40,570 standard who we're going to hire and 180 00:06:40,570 --> 00:06:42,649 reward hardworking employees who are 181 00:06:42,649 --> 00:06:44,980 central to the core war fighting 182 00:06:44,980 --> 00:06:47,202 missions . So we're gonna take a little 183 00:06:47,202 --> 00:06:49,424 bit more time , make sure top to bottom 184 00:06:49,424 --> 00:06:51,424 we're doing a review . Those who we 185 00:06:51,424 --> 00:06:51,109 need , who are the best and brightest 186 00:06:51,109 --> 00:06:53,170 are gonna stay , um , those who are 187 00:06:53,170 --> 00:06:56,109 underperformers won't . We'll continue 188 00:06:56,109 --> 00:06:58,276 to shoot straight with you . We've got 189 00:06:58,276 --> 00:07:00,442 your back . We're motivated to rebuild 190 00:07:00,442 --> 00:07:02,720 the most capable military in the world . 191 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:04,831 That's why I'm here . That's what the 192 00:07:04,831 --> 00:07:06,776 president has asked me to do . But 193 00:07:06,776 --> 00:07:08,887 doing so does require tough decisions 194 00:07:08,887 --> 00:07:11,149 and we are prepared to make them . But 195 00:07:11,149 --> 00:07:13,260 in the process we want to communicate 196 00:07:13,260 --> 00:07:15,371 with you directly rather than through 197 00:07:15,371 --> 00:07:17,427 the filter of media outlets and it's 198 00:07:17,427 --> 00:07:19,538 not just gonna be me you're gonna see 199 00:07:19,538 --> 00:07:21,593 uh Sean Parnell and Graham Allen and 200 00:07:21,593 --> 00:07:23,649 others here in the department , uh , 201 00:07:23,649 --> 00:07:25,871 aggressively ensuring you got , you get 202 00:07:25,871 --> 00:07:27,705 the , the real info in real time 203 00:07:27,705 --> 00:07:29,760 helping you understand what's really 204 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,982 going on at the department . So our war 205 00:07:31,982 --> 00:07:33,871 fighters and taxpayers deserve of 206 00:07:33,871 --> 00:07:35,927 course no less than that and we'll , 207 00:07:35,927 --> 00:07:38,149 you know , we'll keep reporting back to 208 00:07:38,149 --> 00:07:40,371 you from time to time what we're seeing 209 00:07:40,371 --> 00:07:42,538 and we appreciate your support . We're 210 00:07:42,538 --> 00:07:42,529 not gonna get everything perfect , but 211 00:07:42,529 --> 00:07:44,640 we're gonna do it earnestly and we're 212 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:46,585 gonna do it on behalf of President 213 00:07:46,585 --> 00:07:48,473 Trump's leadership and making our 214 00:07:48,473 --> 00:07:50,473 military once again the most lethal 215 00:07:50,473 --> 00:07:53,329 badass fighting force on the planet to 216 00:07:53,329 --> 00:07:56,869 keep our country safe . God bless you 217 00:07:56,869 --> 00:07:57,750 and we're gonna keep fighting .