Speaking during President Donald J. Trump’s first cabinet meeting of 2026 at the White House, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the operation was executed at an unmatched level. “No other military in the world … could have executed the most sophisticated, powerful raid, not just in American history, I would say in world history,” Hegseth said.
He added that the raid showed unique coordination and presidential resolve in authorizing the mission. “What those men did, going downtown, in another country … in the most secure base in the middle of the night without anybody knowing until those simultaneous bombs dropped three minutes before the helicopters dropped — no other country could coordinate that, no other president would have been willing to empower those warriors that way.”
Hegseth also pointed to last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer, conducted in June 2025, as further proof that U.S. military action has reinforced presidential warnings. “When President Donald J. Trump said … Iran, you won’t have a nuclear bomb, he meant it,” Hegseth said.
He noted that the operation involved long-range bomber missions that went undetected. “We sent those B-2s halfway around the world and they never noticed,” Hegseth said.
The War Department, Hegseth added, is also carrying out the president’s commitments to secure the border and disrupt drug trafficking across the Western Hemisphere. He said consistent follow-through on presidential statements restores the credibility of U.S. military deterrence worldwide.
According to Hegseth, the cumulative effect of these actions extends beyond individual operations. “That sends a message to every capital around the world that when President Donald J. Trump speaks, he means business,” he said.
