Pentagon is pulled into politics as leader who promised to prioritize ‘warrior culture’ takes charge

(CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that he and President Donald Trump want to “bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense.”

“He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser focused on warfighting, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it,” he said during his confirmation hearing earlier this month, later adding that “[u]nlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters.”

Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate on Friday evening, but only by the narrowest of margins with Vice President JD Vance having to cast the deciding vote for a 51-50 margin.

It’s not unusual for military leadership to shift priorities and carry out the mission laid before it by the commander in chief. But so far at the Pentagon, the new administration has seemed to prioritize a key Trump election promise — cracking down on immigration by moving troops and military aircraft to the US border with Mexico, despite illegal crossings there dropping substantially in recent months and years.

There’s also been a focus on the culture wars which were prominent in Trump’s campaign, with the elimination of directives and efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a major symbolic move made in retaliation against Gen. Mark Milley – Trump’s former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who he has since accused of “treasonous” acts. Within hours of Trump’s inauguration, Milley’s portrait was removed from the joint staff hallway which is lined with portraits of his predecessors.

But the immediate priority has been made crystal clear. The Defense Department has been rushing all week to surge equipment and troops to the border, following Trump’s declaration of a national emergency there. Far from “warfighting,” however, the first 1,500 active duty troops deploying to the border will “support enhanced detection and monitoring efforts and repair and emplace physical barriers,” US Northern Command said in a statement.

One defense official said that Trump’s team appeared far more prepared to implement his agenda at breakneck speed this time, and the border deployment was a prime example. Administration officials seemed to have largely learned their lessons from Trump’s first term, and while there was still some pause due to the bureaucracy and processes that exist within the Pentagon, they appeared to have largely thought through second- and third-order effects to help move faster than before, the defense official said.

Thousands of additional active duty troops are expected to deploy in the coming weeks and months, building on the initial tranche of 1,500 soldiers and Marines arriving this week, CNN has reported. A US military official said on Wednesday that the department will have to make decisions about where to pull them from, domestically and globally.

A second wave of troops is already being planned for; soldiers from the storied 82nd Airborne Division, which trains to respond immediately to global threats if needed, and 10th Mountain Division are planning to be possibly sent to the border. The 82nd Airborne is typically reserved for crises around the globe — their immediate response force, which can deploy within hours, responded to the fall of Afghanistan in 2021 and heightened tensions with Iran at the end of 2019.

In addition to the ground forces, four US military aircraft — two C-17s and two C-130s — are expected to be used for deportation flights. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Friday on X that the flights had already started, sharing photos of people lined up, in handcuffs, boarding US military aircraft.

The shift in priorities toward more political messaging is even stretching to normal military unit social media activity.

On Wednesday, an internal email from the head of Pentagon social media directed the military to pause all social media posts “except border posts.” The directive was quickly walked back by the Pentagon’s public affairs office, who told teams to continue posting as normal until more official guidance was issued.

That additional guidance came on Friday afternoon, which issued a 10-day pause on nearly all social media posting for official Defense Department accounts, unless it is related to the border, according to a memo signed Friday by Joe Kasper, the chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense.

“This suspension does not apply to social media communication concerning DoD’s current operations defending our southern border — in fact, this is a top priority for the Department,” Kasper said in the memo.

The pause goes into effect Saturday and does not include posts regarding “normal installation base operations and activities,” including DOD school activities and recruiting-related posts. But the policy underscored the emphasis the Trump administration wants the Pentagon to put on the border. US military units around the globe post on social media with operational updates, or highlighting personnel in the ranks. US Central Command, for example, uses social media regularly as a platform for press releases regarding missions against ISIS in the Middle East, updates on the Iran-backed Houthis and their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and meetings between senior US military leaders and partners in the region.

More social media guidance is expected to be issued “early next month,” Kasper said Friday.

On the policy front, the Trump administration has wasted no time in directing the closure and pausing of activities and offices related to DEI.

A memo on Wednesday signed by the Acting Secretary of the Army, referencing a directive from the Office of Personnel Management, ordered the Department of the Army to take down “all outward-facing media of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices” by 5 p.m. Thursday. The memo also ordered the cancellation of any “DEIA related training immediately.”

Asked about any policy changes, a Defense Department official said the Pentagon will “full execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives.”

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