Proving his affection for our service members with a very kind gesture, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, spent Thanksgiving 2025 aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Winston S. Churchill near South America, serving holiday meals to sailors conducting Operation Southern Spear against violent narco-terror networks.
During the event, Secretary of War Hegseth thanked the troops on behalf of President Trump and a grateful nation. Further, he offered prayers for the two National Guardsmen attacked in Washington, D.C., and emphasized their role in defending America both at home and abroad. And, when concluding his comments, the War Secretary read George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Starting off his address, he compared his experience as a soldier to those men assembled in front of him. “I was deployed three times — was always thinking about my family and hoped they were gathering with food and football and all those things. These folks won’t be. We’re going to bring them maybe a turkey and a little bit of cheer,” Pete Hegseth declared.
Hegseth pivoted back to the two soldiers tragically shot in DC by an Afghan immigrant. The War Secretary said, “Our minds are also in Washington, D.C., with the two great Americans who were ambushed and targeted… And we’re prayerful for them, for all those around them, for their families.”
Joking to the soldiers, he said, “I give out too much candy at Halloween and too much turkey on Thanksgiving,” while serving soldiers. “Happy Thanksgiving from me, the Secretary of War. Happy Thanksgiving from the President of the United States. Happy Thanksgiving from a grateful nation.”
Also during his comments, Hegseth made it clear that our troops are supported by Americans. “Whether it’s in our nation’s capital, walking patrol, or whether it’s in our nation’s hemisphere, out at sea, interdicting cartels, defending the American people — we are grateful for you,” he explained.
Next the Secretary issued a personal thanks. “So on this Thanksgiving, on behalf of my wife and I, Jennifer, who is here with me as well… we simply say thank you, our deepest gratitude, and we renew how committed we are to you and your families,” Hegseth said, “Godspeed, God bless, you are in our prayers, and we are grateful. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
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Watch Hegseth lead a prayer while meeting with the troops on Thanksgiving here:
In a post to social media, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Laura Richardson noted, “No better place for Thanksgiving than with the men and women keeping the cartels on the run in our own backyard. Proud of Southern Spear.”
Echoing these comments, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade noted, “Pete Hegseth is the real deal — a combat vet who actually shows up for the troops instead of just tweeting about them,” contrasting to previous administrations.
In a post to Truth Social, President Trump said, “Secretary Hegseth and his family are bringing Thanksgiving cheer to the warriors of Southern Spear — showing our sailors we have their backs exactly as they have ours.”