Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is leading America’s military in another conflict with an oil-rich Middle Eastern state, but told The Daily Signal this is different from the wars of the past and will not distract from other priorities.
“The dumb, politically correct wars of the past were the opposite of what we’re doing here,” Hegseth told reporters at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.
“They had vague objectives, with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more,” he said.
Hegseth travelled to Florida on Thursday to visit military command centers, as he made the case that America is capable of killing its enemies in both hemispheres while maintaining strategic focus.
First, he explained President Donald Trump’s updated “Monroe Doctrine” to defense officials from across the Western Hemisphere at a conference at U.S. Southern Command in Doral.
Later, he met with Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, to receive an update on Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
Is the ‘Monroe Doctrine’ Still in Effect?
In Doral, Hegseth told his counterparts from countries such as the Bahamas, Argentina, and El Salvador that the Trump administration has revived the Monroe Doctrine, which demands U.S. influence over the Western Hemisphere.
Hegseth echoed arguments from the 2026 National Defense Strategy and the 2026 National Security Strategy, documents that said the administration would not sacrifice priorities in its own hemisphere in favor of wars on other continents.
Hegseth delivered these arguments in Doral once again, but now amid a conflict with Iran.
“Under previous leaders, we grew obsessed with every other theater and every other border in the world except our own,” Hegseth told the generals and defense ministers in Doral.
“These elites reduced our power and presence in this hemisphere, opting for a benign neglect that was anything but benign.”
The National Security Strategy, published in December 2025, called for a “‘Trump corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” and declared “the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy … are thankfully over.”
The National Defense Strategy, published in January 2026, accused previous leaders of having neglected the Western Hemisphere by “fighting war after rudderless war to topple regimes and nation-build halfway around the world.”
Hegseth told The Daily Signal in Tampa that, amid the current conflict with Iran, the U.S. military is capable of defense in both hemispheres.
“We’re laser-focused on our hemisphere and our homeland. That’s why we locked down the border. That’s why we’re working with partners to take on cartels. That’s why we’re sinking drug boats. That’s why we’re on the offense there,” Hegseth told The Daily Signal.
He argued the American military is capable of dividing the labor and maintaining power all around the world.
Hegseth told The Daily Signal that “the beautiful thing about combatant commands is that Brad Cooper is laser-focused on Central Command, just like [Gen.] Frank Donovan is laser-focused on Southern Command. We can do both. That’s what a global power can do.”
Is Epic Fury Another ‘Forever War’?
Multiple administration officials have publicly said the current conflict with Iran will not drag on for years, and Hegseth himself insisted from the beginning that Operation Epic Fury is “not Iraq” and “not endless.”
However, on Thursday, Trump told Axios he has “to be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader, since another hardliner in power would force the United States to strike again “in five years.”
Trump told the outlet the next Iranian leader must be someone “that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
His remarks raise the question of whether the administration’s goals in Iran are expanding, and if that will force the operation to go on for longer than initially indicated.
Hegseth told The Daily Signal that the operation is not expanding upon its original goals.
“Ultimately, I think the president is having a heck of a say in who runs Iran, given the ongoing operation we have,” he said. “So there’s no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we’re trying to achieve.”
The next day, Trump posted on social media that “there will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” and that the United States will “work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
In Tampa on Thursday, Hegseth told The Daily Signal “these missions are narrow, they’re scoped, and Admiral Cooper is well on his way to ensuring that we reach those objectives.”
