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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, the largest and fastest growing conservative youth activist organization in the country with over 250,000 student members, over 150 full-time staff, and a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. Charlie is also the Chairman of Students for Trump, which aims to activate one million new college voters on campuses in battleground states in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. His social media reaches over 100 million people per month and according to Axios, he is one of the "top 10 most engaged" Twitter handles in the world. He is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which regularly ranks among the top news shows on Apple podcast charts.
Subscribe on YouTubePete Hegseth Reveals Record Military Recruitment and the Future of American Defense Technology
Pete Hegseth sits down with Charlie Kirk to discuss the transformation happening at the Department of Defense under President Trump's leadership. From record-breaking military recruitment numbers to the removal of woke policies, Hegseth explains how the Pentagon is being liberated rather than reformed. He details the precision of Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran's nuclear sites, where B-2 bombers flew 36 hours from Missouri in a flawless display of American military power. Hegseth also reveals why drone technology and AI will determine future conflicts and how the DoD is positioning America to dominate that battlefield for the next 40 years.
A Liberation, Not a Reformation
Pete Hegseth describes his experience leading the Department of Defense as "the honor of a lifetime and glory to God for the opportunity." Unlike hostile takeovers in other government departments, Hegseth explains that transforming the Pentagon has been a "liberation exercise." The vast majority of men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians at DoD are patriots who want to serve the country, not advance political ideology.
With President Trump providing fearless leadership from the top, Hegseth has been able to restore the warrior ethos, rebuild military readiness, and reestablish American deterrence. The shield that Trump provides allows the Secretary of Defense to focus on what matters: putting America first with common sense and peace through strength.
Record-Breaking Recruitment Numbers
Military recruitment has surged to record levels across all branches of service. The Army hit its recruiting goal four to five months early, while the Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Navy all posted record numbers. This stands in stark contrast to the Biden administration, which not only failed to meet recruitment goals but actually lowered those goals by tens of thousands and still couldn't achieve them.
The turnaround comes from young Americans responding to President Trump's leadership and the changes being implemented at the Pentagon. Hegseth notes that military recruitment is essentially a poll of whether American families are willing to give their sons and daughters to Uncle Sam for military service. Veterans who had stopped recommending military service to their children and grandchildren because of what had been done to the military are now encouraging them to serve again.
Young men and women are attracted to excellence and high standards of lethality. The Marine Corps maintained this focus throughout previous administrations, which is why they consistently hit their recruiting goals. Now all branches are returning to their core function: preparing warriors for combat.
Removing Wokeness From the Pentagon
The top-down structure of the military allowed woke ideology to be inserted quickly under previous administrations, forcing service members to either comply with lawful orders on gender ideology, DEI programs, and critical race theory or leave the service. Many patriots who disagreed went along because they wanted to continue serving their country.
That same top-down structure has enabled Hegseth to remove the wokeness just as quickly. Politics, ideology, climate worship, and gender confusion are out. Everything is now colorblind, gender-neutral, and merit-based. The Pentagon wants the best of the best in every position.
Physical fitness standards have been made uniform across the board with no special accommodations. If you're on the battlefield, a 155mm round or a rucksack doesn't care if you're a man or a woman. The only question is whether you can execute the mission. If high-speed individuals from any background can meet the standards, they're welcome. If they can't, they won't be in the infantry or special forces because the military needs the best of the best.
Operation Midnight Hammer: A Display of Unmatched Power
The military operation against Iran's nuclear facilities demonstrated capabilities that no other military in the world possesses. Seven B-2 bombers flew from Missouri across the globe, escorted by dozens of refueling aircraft, while deception operations ensured that Iran and the rest of the world had no idea what was happening.
The precision required for aerial refueling is extraordinary. Flying at 500-600 miles per hour, pilots connect with flying gas stations that pump fuel into the B-2s and escort fighters mid-flight with virtually no room for error. This happens in the middle of the night, potentially in turbulent conditions, with multiple aircraft operating simultaneously. American pilots trained for years to execute this mission flawlessly.
The operation featured 30 Tomahawk missiles launched from a submarine hitting targets simultaneously with the bomber strikes. Iran didn't see any of it, and the world didn't know until President Trump posted about it. The mission hit three nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, but the impact was felt globally as a reestablishment of American deterrence.
The operation satisfied every criterion for successful military action: no troops on the ground, no US troops killed, no nuclear weapons for Iran, no endless war, no Middle East conflict escalation, and no regime change. Two female pilots were part of the B-2 crews, exemplifying the merit-based approach where anyone who meets the standards can serve in any role.
The Decimation of the Houthis
A 50-day campaign against the Houthis in Yemen decimated their military capabilities to the point where they played no significant role in supporting Iran's response to Operation Midnight Hammer. Under the Biden administration, American ships were shot at with no consequence or minimal retaliation against empty buildings.
President Trump changed that dynamic, authorizing Central Command to respond forcefully. The Houthis eventually approached American officials to surrender, saying they would no longer shoot at US ships. American naval vessels now transit the Bab al-Mandab strait freely and successfully. This reestablishment of American leadership came without entanglement, escalation, or prolonged conflict.
The Future Belongs to Drones and AI
Hegseth recently announced a major initiative to scale up American drone production and innovation. Warfare is heading toward AI-enabled, drone-fueled conflicts, as evidenced by current battlefields around the world. America can either sit back and fight the way military planners think wars should be fought, or recognize where warfare is going and outpace adversaries.
The United States has the economic engine and defense industrial base to dominate this domain, but the Defense Department bureaucracy created rules, restrictions, and red tape under previous administrations that held back the ability to produce cheap, attritable, American-made drones. These drones can be used for one-way attacks, surveillance, intelligence gathering, and small unit operations. Some are large, some are tiny. The Chinese have even created bee-sized drones.
Innovations are happening among Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian, and Iranian forces. America needs to be in front of these developments, and Hegseth's initiative unleashes the Pentagon to do exactly that. This includes focusing on AI, computing, hypersonics, and other emerging technologies. The DoD is now incentivizing private industry to compete in ways the Pentagon has never done before.
Investing in Technologies 40 Years Ahead
The B-2 bomber that executed Operation Midnight Hammer exists because someone 40 years ago was willing to invest in technology that would put options in the hands of future presidents. That investment allowed President Trump to remove Iran's nuclear program without troops, endless war, quagmire, or American deaths. Four decades ago, such an operation would have required boots on the ground and stationed aircraft.
The Pentagon's job now is to look around the corner and identify the technologies of the future that someone 40 years from now will use. Hegseth wants future leaders to look back and recognize that his generation saw the value in emerging capabilities and invested in them, even if he never sees the results while serving as Secretary of Defense. This is about putting your shoulder to the plow for the next generation of Americans.
God and Family First
When addressing the 7,000 students at the Turning Point USA event, Hegseth planned to start by talking about priorities. While he has an incredible day job serving war fighters, life is ultimately about God and family first. In the midst of pursuing purpose and meaningful work, it's important to remember what's really important. He also promised to share some fun stories, recognizing that young people want to be entertained and inspired, not just hear about policy memos.
Throughout the conversation, Hegseth expressed gratitude for the prayers and support he has received, particularly during his confirmation fight. Millions of Americans are praying for him and have his back as he works to restore America's military to its proper role: defending the nation with excellence, lethality, and unwavering commitment to the warrior ethos.
Video Transcript
So, I um this is a you could call it a
live podcast taping and all for our
members here and then Pete, you'll go up
on stage and you'll enjoy the 7,000
people we have for you. First of all,
Pete, you're doing a phenomenal job. I
just want to say that from the American
people that uh you don't get the credit
uh that you deserve obviously in the
mainstream media. I mean,
you you've been in this job for now a
couple months. Like, just catch us up to
speed. I mean, this is you're running
the world's largest and greatest
military. tell us how's life.
Well, thank you Charlie and thanks for
everything you do. Uh it is
I mean it's the honor of a lifetime and
glory to God for the opportunity uh to
do it to serve our war fighters to serve
uh a department that was illerved for
under the previous administration and
under you know Obama to Biden and was
left looking for leadership and they
found it in a commander-in-chief and
President Trump who sets the tone. I
mean really I mean anything is possible
when you have a fearless leader at the
top.
Amen.
And so when he the shield that he
provides gives me an opportunity to say
what what is the art of the possible
about how we restore the warrior ethos
and rebuild the military and reestablish
deterrence and put America first with
common sense and peace through strength.
Like you can do those things when you
got a boss that has your back. And
that's why my message to the troops is
always guys, gals, he has your back and
so do I. So go do the tough things on
behalf of the nation. And we're going to
give you what you need. We're going to
give you clarity in the mission. We're
not going to start things we can't
finish, clear objectives that advance
the national interest. Uh so it has been
an honor. We are full speed ahead. We're
going to keep going and I'm just
grateful.
And let's the numbers speak for
themselves. Talk about recruitment. This
is one of the greatest thing.
Recruitment is at record numbers. Is
that correct? That is it is.
And by the way, you know, we have we
have young men that were coming up to us
at our chapter leadership summit saying,
"I'm going to sign up for the military
because I believe President Trump has
the country's best interest and they're
inspired by you." Walk through the
numbers of how recruitment is going
right now.
Well, we got to I think we do have a
room full of 15, 16, and 17 year olds
over there.
Future members,
future potential members of the
military. So, it's a target-rich
environment, as we say. Uh but it has
been um incredible to watch young
Americans respond to the leadership of
President Trump and then what we're
doing at the department. So and and a
lot of it is the family business too. I
mean one of the challenges uh I saw when
I wrote the book the war on warriors and
and just inside military formations is
you had Thank you sir. Uh you had men
and women who have served who were
starting to say I don't know that I can
recommend to my kids or grandkids that
they serve because of what's been done
to the military. And seeing that
generational change where vets and
others are saying, "Hey, I see what you
guys are doing. I like it. I get it. And
I'm going to encourage my kids and
grandkids to go serve is an honor." And
so the reaction has been incredible. I
mean, it's not it's not like this. I
mean, it's a rocket ship from November.
So, what are some of those numbers? I
think you hit the recruitment goal like
nine months early.
We hit the Army recruiting goal. I mean,
we were we hit the Army recruiting goal
four or five months early. We hit the
And the Marine Corps always hits its
goal. You know why the Marine Corps hits
its goal? And I'm not I'm not allowed to
be biased anymore. I have to be
bipartisan across the services, Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, B because
the Marine Corps stuck to its core
function, you know, uh from the
beginning of high standards of of
lethality and young men and women are
attracted to excellence. And so that ne
that that was a a a recruiting option
and opportunity they maintained. But we
saw it in the Air Force, Space Force,
and Navy where they've hit record
numbers as well. So across the board,
recruiting at record levels. It's almost
like, and we have, you know, President
Trump understands polls. It's about the
best poll you could get from the
American people. Are we willing to give
our sons and daughters to Uncle Sam for
military service? Amen.
Uh is and and that response has been
really
And they were at troubling lows under
Biden. Is that right?
Not just troubling lows, but Lowe's.
They they couldn't meet the the numbers
even close. And so what they did to try
to game the system was lower the numbers
by tens of thousands of recruits for
goals for the next year. And then they
couldn't meet that. So they weren't even
meeting the lowered goals of what And
does it surprise anybody? I mean we you
had videos, recruiting videos that were
like I signed up because I have two
mommies.
That's right.
And there were cartoons of this. It was
Yes, there were cartoons of this. oppose
that with like you should sign up
because you can do something tough and
meaningful and purposeful on behalf of
your country. Uh that is what we believe
the patriots of America are attracted
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And I know, correct me if I'm wrong, war
games are up, right? Efficiency is up.
Recruitment, as I mentioned, is up.
We're getting wokeness totally out of
the military. So, kind of give us and by
the way, this is lesser reported of
what's so great about the military is
when you have someone like Pete, you can
actually remove stuff pretty quick as
long as the courts don't get in the way,
right? Is that you've been able to
remove a lot of the wokeness like very
quickly. I mean, we went because we are
a top- down organization, which is part
of the reason why they were able to
insert a lot of the woke nonsense so
quickly because it was either comply,
follow lawful orders from a previous
commander-in-chief on these woke
ideological gender stuff, DEI stuff,
critical race theory stuff, or you're
out. And so, you have a lot of folks
that probably didn't want to go along
with it, but they wanted to continue to
serve, and so they did. So in many parts
of the government you it's been a
hostile takeover right you think of
other departments education department
HHS you name it it's a fight right I
feel like for the most part at the
defense department it's been a
liberation exercise
it has been
it's not the department of education
no it's not because the vast majority of
the men and women and there's problem
sets and we've fired folks and for the
right reasons but the vast majority of
folks in uniform and contractors and
civilians that work at DoD are patriots
who want to do right by the nation and
it's not because they're Republicans or
Democrats. It's because they're they
want to serve the country and serve our
war fighters. And so we've gotten the
politics, the ideology, the climate
worship, the the gender confusion, all
the woke crap is out. It's and we we've
quickly and aggressively. And so now
it's it's all colorblind,
genderneutral, merit-based. We want the
best of the best in any position and
that people respond to that
and and physical fitness standards I
think you made egalitarian across the
board, right? No special accommodations.
Yeah. I mean, if you're in a combat,
this is such this is
I'm sorry you have to explain this.
This is all common sense stuff. Everyone
listening here understands this. Like if
you're on the battlefield, a 155 round
or a rucks sack or a human being or, you
know, lifting some, it doesn't care if
you're a man or a woman.
Doesn't care. Can you execute or not?
And that's the standards we're injecting
into physical fitness, into combat
standards, into preparedness standards.
And if high-speed individuals from any
background can make it, great. But if
you can't cut it, you're not going to be
in the infantry or you're not going to
be in special forces because we need the
best of the best. So it it's common
sense application of stuff that that a
lot of folks are responding to.
And and we we we see the morale go. How
has this been received by you think it's
liberation days? Like there's a lot of
thank yous, I'm sure, a lot of
gratitude. And at least that's what I'm
getting from, you know, from the
grassroots, like finally, because it was
going in a very trepidacious direction
where the military felt like a social
experiment under Biden. I got to be
honest, Pete, regardless of people's
opinion of what happened, I think
President Trump handled it beautifully
with Iran. It gave me faith back in our
military, though, that we were able to
fly bombers from Missouri all the way
across the world. Can you just go bring
us as much as you can? And I know you
got plenty of classified information,
but bring us into the mindset into how
spectacular of a military operation that
was. All public stuff, you know, but
because I think it's time to brag on our
military because from the refueling to
the stamina, how this no military in the
world could have done this.
Not only could no military in the world
do do this, it's not even close. Let
alone do it and do it effectively and
nearly flawlessly. while some deception
operations, some of which are
classified, uh, ensured that the eyes of
the world were somewhere else
and Iran and their allies and no one in
the world had any idea that our seven B2
bombers escorted by dozens and dozens of
refuelers, what it takes for them to fly
across the country.
Explain that. The whole refueling,
if you've never seen it, Google it. I've
had a chance to watch it uh in the
cockpit. I mean, you're you're going 500
miles an hour. You're connecting with a
basically a flying gas station which
pumps fuel into the B2s but also the
fighters while you're flying, you know,
500, 600 miles an hour. There's
basically no room for error. There can
be turbulence. It's in the middle of the
night. There's other bombers, other, you
know, B2s, other fighters. I mean, the
precision of our men and women that go
into the ability to do that and do that.
Does any other military in the world be
able to do that?
No.
36 hours refueling in the air.
I mean, there are refuelers. There's
nothing like that. nothing like what we
were able to do. And by the way, the B2,
as beautiful as the B2 is, is we already
have online the next generation of the
B2, the B-21, which is public, it's
publicly known. I mean, we're not
stopping at where we are. We're staying
ahead with where we're going to include
the F-47, which we announced, the sixth
generation fighter jet, uh, even more
stealth, even more capable than the
F-35. So I mean it's it's the best tools
in the world in the hands of the best
war fighters and President Trump gave
him very clear guidance. They trained on
this for years and years. The munitions
we use were specifically designated as
uh Raisen Kaine pointed out for that
target. Uh and I had and the fighter
jets the deception the ability to fly. I
mean, we were watching in real time in
the situation room uh as it was going on
that that the the 30 tomahawks shot from
a submarine in real time that hit
simultaneously with our bombers coming
in. Iran didn't see any of it and the
world didn't know until President Trump
put out a truth. Uh which is exactly how
you want it to be. Our um our boys and
bombers, as I said at the press
conference, and then the media was like,
"You can't call them boys and bombers.
There were two female pilots." I'm like,
I know
it's called a turn of a phrase. And by
the chance by by
It's like saying you guys.
Exactly. By actually got to meet those
two female pilots who are incredible by
the way, and said, "Thank you for what
you said. Uh they're amazing." Uh it was
just it was all it was all inspiring and
breathtaking. And it wasn't just Foraux,
Natans, and Espahan, the three nuclear
sites that felt it that night. It was
the whole world.
Totally. And and it was it was the it
was a huge step in reestablishing
deterrence so that the world
understands, you know, the Afghanistan
debacle you saw under Biden is not the
reality of the world under President
Trump. And that's how you get peace
through strength. Adversaries that
understand you want peace, but you will
use strength. And
there's no no troops on the ground, no
US troops dead, no nukes for Iran, no
endless war, no Middle East conflict, no
regime change. That's pretty awesome. I
mean, it pretty satisfies at least in my
all every criteria I would possibly
have. And and so Pete, here's a silly
question. Did they really not use the
restroom for 36 hours?
Uh that capability is classified.
Ah, okay. The the the the the restroom
is classified or not or lack thereof.
Uh let's just say they have ways around
it. Yes.
Okay, good. Um, but no, I I just want to
I want to I want to re reinforce what I
said because I'll be honest, I was
starting to lose faith in the capability
of our military under Biden. I don't
know if you guys in the audience felt
the same, but it was like so woke. It
was and it was just refreshing like,
wow, we had a seamless intercontinental
multi-day military operation that could
not could it have gone better? I mean,
it was a 10.
It was absolutely a 10. And it does go
to the skill of from the sententcom
commander down to all the wing
commanders to the base commanders to the
air defenders with the patriot missile
systems. I mean and but what we keep
hearing time and time and time again is
morale is up because we're being allowed
to do our job to go back to the basics
and focus on what we do well which is
train be ready hold people accountable.
You've untied our hands. You hear that
from our counterterrorism folks that are
ensuring that ISIS stays at bay in
limited places. we don't even know
about. Hey, we have authorities we
didn't have before so that they're on
the run as well. So, it's actually you
you have a military prepared and raring
to go with the right kind of leadership,
which was what we're trying to allow
them to do.
So, you mentioned something and again I
I I never want to put you on the spot on
stuff you can't talk about, but you said
it established deterrence. I I think it
was a shotard around the world. I think
our other adversaries were studying it
closely, especially China, and they were
just flumxed by this. C can can you
elaborate that to the best ability that
you can?
Well, I mean nothing happens in a vacuum
just like Afghanistan didn't happen in a
vacuum. So what happened after
Afghanistan? You have you had Ukraine,
you had October 7th, you had Vladimir
Putin and you had Hamas who believed the
they were emboldened in a world where
America looked weak. I think the actions
not just of this B2 of Operation
Midnight Hammer, which which is the
primary, but even our campaign against
the Houthies, which went on for 50 days
or so, we've since learned reflections.
Part of the reason the Houthies didn't
join in with any real solidarity on the
Iran effort, is because they've been
decimated in their capabilities. They'll
bark a lot, but they know exactly what
they can't do and how decimated they
are. It's just like Iran. they're going
to bark. But when they shot those 14
missiles at our base, as President Trump
has said, they told us where they were
shooting and when they were shooting to
make sure we would shoot them down
because they didn't want an escalation.
Uh and and because they understand what
we're capable of. They saw what and I
don't say that in any cavalier sense. Uh
President Trump used that moment
alongside what Israel did so
successfully to bring about peace. We
have a chance now for a deal that
ensures Iran doesn't have nuclear
capabilities. and we have a peace
something that wasn't possible before
that. Same thing with with the Houthis.
The reality that we under Joe Biden, we
allowed our ships to get shot at with no
consequence. We can't live in a world
where American military ships are shot
at and nothing happens or you just shoot
an empty building. President Trump said,
"Change that dynamic." We unleashed
sentcom to do that. They very
effectively did it. And the Houthies
came to us and said, "No moss, we're
uncle. We cry uncle. We're done. uh
we're not going to shoot at your ships
anymore. And our our ships have
transited the BAM uh freely and
successfully. That's a reestablishment
of American leadership that isn't
entanglement or seeking escalation or
seeking a prolonged conflict. It's meant
to send a very direct message with a
very discreet mission which I think
serves our war fighters well as well.
So, uh we we're running out of time
here. And by the way, Pete, thank you
for taking time to speak to all of our
students. I mean, so many people when
they go in government, they kind of like
forget where they came from. You know,
Pete has come to like every Turning
Point event over the last 10 years. This
guy's a machine. And
and I'll tell you, anybody that
routinely would host Fox and Friends
weekend and get up at 3:30 in the
morning, that that's how I know you were
cut out for the job, cuz that's that's
no joke. That's but but Pete you made an
announcement I think yesterday the day
before that's a little wonky but it's
actually one of the most important
things I've heard from our government
which is he who controls the drones
controls the future and if you don't
make your own drones you're actually
going to be a vassal state to those who
make the drones
and I know this like some of the
audience might say what are you talking
about this is act this is one of the
most important things I think it's all
about AI and drones going forward for
defense I don't know if you agree with
that Pete or not but you signed it
wasn't an executive order it was
proclamation something with drones
pretty awesome video what is the
significance for American security for
drone technology. And what did you
announce?
Well, you unleash American innovation to
actually not just scale up but outscale
our adversaries who uh just look at
where warfare is and where it's going.
Uh it's going to be AI enabled and it's
going to be drone fueled and you're
seeing it right now. And we can either
sit back and fight the way we think we
should or we wanted to or we thought
warfare was going or recognize where
it's going and outpace our adversaries.
And we have the economic engine, the
defense industrial base to do that. But
the defense department, especially under
the previous administration, can be very
good at being a big bloated bureaucracy
that defeats itself. And so it creates a
lots of rules, lots of restrictions,
lots of red tape, lots of reasons why. I
mean, I can go through two or three
examples, but I'll spare you that held
back our ability to make cheap atradable
Americanmade drones that you can use as
one-way attack. You can use for
surveillance, you can use for ISR, you
can you small unit level. I mean there
some are this big, some are
the Chinese have a a bee that they've
created.
The Chinese, the Russians, the the uh
the Ukrainians, the Iranians. I mean
there's innovations happening. We need
to be in front of that and we will be
quickly and this only unleashes us to do
that. So you look at that, you look at
AI, you look at computing, you look at
um hypersonics, you you name it. We're
we are unleashing innovators by thinking
outside the box, taking off the shelf,
incentivizing private industry to
compete in a way that DoD's never done
before and is required because of the
environment we live in. America either
leads uh or or we're left without
options. And the reason we had a B2 that
could do that is because someone 40
years ago was willing to say this is a
technology of the future that will put
decisions in the hands of presidents.
And our job is to look around the corner
and say,"What are the technologies of
the future that somebody 40 years from
now is going to use?" And hopefully they
look back and say, "Scary Hegsth and
that generation saw the value in that,
invested in it, even though I'm never
going to see it while I'm the Secretary
of Defense." And so that's part of
putting your shoulder to the plow for
the
And you think about the profoundity of
that. Someone 40 years ago gave
President Trump the ability to remove a
nuclear program with no troops, no
endless war, no quagmire, no US troops
dead. 40 years ago, you would have had
to have bodies and boots on the ground,
right? or you'd have to at least have
some stationed aircraft. It would have
been impossible. Final question, then I
know we got to go. We're getting the the
yank here. Uh Pete, you're about to
address our 7,000 students. Give us a
little preview. What's your message to
these students going to be? You're going
to do a little recruiting and then uh a
little bit of a kind of a pump up. What
What's your message to these students
and generally the people watching at
home? What is what is your message to
the pe the young people of this country?
Well, the overall message of this
administration is hey, we are we're we
are putting America first. It is peace
through strength and it's the
application of common sense. But also,
I'm going to start by talking about,
hey, yeah, I got an incredible I've been
gifted with an incredible day job on
behalf of our war fighters, but
ultimately, you know, it's about God and
family first and and that understanding
and I don't, you know, we all get caught
up in what we're doing and where we're
going and the purpose life we want to d
live. Uh, but where you we're what's
really important, a quick reminder up
front with that and then maybe maybe
we'll tell a few fun stories because I
know when I'm talking to my kids, they
don't want to hear what I have. They
don't want to hear about my own memo.
They want to hear a few a few good
stories, too. So, we'll do a little bit
of that, too.
Pete, thank you. We have your back. I
just want you to know that millions of
people are praying for you. They're in
the trenches for you. We had your back
during the uh the not boring
confirmation fight. And um
and by the way, thank you for the
prayers. So many people tell me that and
it means everything.
God bless you, Pete Hugstf. Thank you
guys so much.