← Videos · Foreign Policy & Defense

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Briefs Members of the Media at the Pentagon, Apr. 8, 2026

April 8, 2026 · The White House · 0:02:01

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

The White House published an excerpt of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefing members of the media at the Pentagon on April 8, 2026 — his first Pentagon briefing since the ceasefire announced the previous evening, per the upload’s description. “Iran has been a threat to the United States and the free world for 47 years,” he said, tracing the line “from the strike that took out Qasem Soleimani to tearing up the disastrous Obama Iran deal to the precision campaign that obliterated Iran’s nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer to the decisive military victory we just achieved in Operation Epic Fury. No other president has shown the courage and resolve of this commander-in-chief.”

“Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it,” he said. “Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield — a capital V military victory. By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come. You see, in less than 40 days, one of our combatant commands, CENTCOM, using less than 10% of America’s total combat power, dismantled one of the world’s largest militaries. The world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism proved utterly incapable of defending itself, its people, or its territory.”

Why it matters

The excerpt is the War Department’s own victory statement for Epic Fury, delivered at the Pentagon on the ceasefire’s first full day — the military counterpart to the Press Secretary’s scorecard the same afternoon. It is recorded on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub.

Scoreboard watch

The figures as stated by the Secretary — under 40 days, under 10 percent of U.S. combat power, an adversary rendered combat-ineffective for years — are recorded here as the department’s stated measure of the operation.

Sources: The White House, “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefs members of the media at the pentagon,” The Pentagon, April 8, 2026 (official upload, embedded above; excerpt as published by the White House). All characterizations as stated by Secretary Hegseth in the excerpt.