Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth assured Americans on Saturday that President Donald Trump is "dialed in" to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and asserted that this is not an "autopen moment" for the president.
Hegseth told "Fox and Friends": "The American people can be assured that President Trump is dialed in. This is not an autopen moment. We had that where the world saw our gaze distracted or not paying attention at all. President Trump is dialed in. I get to see it every single day. He knows every single dynamic of what's going on here, and I'll tell you what he's doing here, Rachel. He's putting America first."
Israel Defense Forces launched a sweeping strike on Iran following months of attempted, and seemingly failed, nuclear negotiations. Iran retaliated to Israel's strikes yesterday, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles into various regions of the Jewish state.
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The defense secretary's autopen comments come on the heels of an investigation launched by the Trump administration into former President Joe Biden's use of the tool to allegedly cover up his declining mental acuity.
When asked by Fox News' Charlie Hurt about the latest developments in the conflict, Hegseth replied that the administration is monitoring the situation in real time and that Trump has been "leading the way on setting the tempo of how we look at the region."
He also noted that Israel felt they "needed to take action against [Iran's] nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles" in self-defense, adding that the United States is "robustly postured to ensure that our people, our bases, our interests are safe."
"We will keep Americans safe… Ultimately it should be clear to Iran that they should not turn their gaze to the United States. That would be a bad idea," Hegseth asserted. "And the president continues to message that he prefers peace, he prefers a solution to this that is resolved at the table."
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The defense chief told the panel that the administration knew about Israel's strike on the Iranian regime ahead of time and is currently focused on keeping the American people safe.
"That's our job, not to be completely caught off guard, to understand the situation in front of us and then calibrate accordingly. And provide maximum decision space to the president of the US to keep Americans safe," he said. "So I wouldn't say we were really surprised by any dynamic of the back and forth that's been ongoing, but we're monitoring it closely."
In his final thoughts on the conflict, Hegseth emphasized Trump's demand that Iran not pursue acquiring a nuclear weapon, and noted that Israel believed Iran's nuclear aspirations were a threat to them - and that's why they took action.
"As this back and forth continues, as I said, we're going to defend our folks, and the president is also making - and by the way robustly and strongly - this is not some sort of a perspective where we're worried or concerned. We're vigilant, we're prepared in a strong defensive posture," he declared. "While the president continues to say to Iran, 'Hey you have any option for peace. It includes, you know, various aspects of what's been discussed.' Iran knows. They know they can come back. They're making their own decisions right now, and we hope they would choose a negotiated option."
