Merve Aydogan
28 February 2026•Update: 28 February 2026
HAMILTON, Canada
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Friday that anyone challenging the United States "will pay a high price," claiming that recent operations have demonstrated American military dominance.
"Our goal is deterrence that is so absolute that our adversaries tremble when they think about challenging us," Hegseth said at a nationwide Arsenal of Freedom tour stop in the state of Arkansas.
"It'd be great if we lived in a world where being nice brought peace. It's not the world we live in, a fallen world where strong men must be strong in order to defend those things that they love," he added.
Hegseth signaled urgency for the US defense industry. "We're sending a clear, sustained demand signal to American industry. We want the best, and we need it yesterday. The era of weakness and the era of wokeness is over," he said.
Criticizing previous US military missteps, he said, "Unfortunately, the world saw the other side of the coin through the disastrous retreat in Afghanistan, a preventable war in Ukraine that never would have started under President Trump, the invasion of our southern border; those days are finished on day one of the Trump administration."
Detailing Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, Hegseth said that "a part of the reason they took a limited amount of fire, instead of overwhelming fire, is that three minutes before they landed on that objective, 44 missiles landed simultaneously on 44 different targets powered by rocket motors shot from different platforms in different systems across the Caribbean," and that "all (missiles were) timed to land exactly where they needed to land exactly three minutes before our war fighters got on that objective."
Hailing the US military for its "deterrence" against "enemies," Hegseth warned that "If you challenge the United States of America, you will pay a high price."
"Maduro learned that last month," he said.
Washington carried out Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3 to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and take him into US custody.
US forces launched widespread airstrikes on targets in northern Venezuela, including air defense and communications infrastructure, while special operations raided Caracas to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The Trump administration has framed the operation as enforcing a revival of the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Americas off-limits to European influence, and action against alleged narcotrafficking and corruption, while also explicitly linking it to securing influence over Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
