Hegseth Warns U.S. Enemies As Pentagon Shifts To Wartime Production Footing

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered one of his most forceful addresses to date on Friday, declaring that under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, the Pentagon is moving decisively from a slow-moving peacetime bureaucracy to what he called a “wartime footing.” The message was unmistakable: the United States is prepared to act fast and strike hard if provoked — and adversaries should “FAFO,” an acronym for “f*ck around and find out.”

According to Mediaite, Hegseth outlined sweeping reforms designed to accelerate weapons production, testing, deployment, and battlefield preparedness. The shift, he said, is about restoring the U.S. military’s capacity to deter — and if necessary, defeat — hostile nations and cartels that threaten American interests.

“We are not just buying something. We are solving life-and-death problems for our warfighters,” Hegseth said. “We’re not building for peacetime; we are pivoting the Pentagon and industrial base to a wartime footing — building for victory should our adversaries FAFO.”

Hegseth confirmed that he has directed the Department of War — the restored historic name of the Pentagon under President Trump — to produce a complete restructuring plan that streamlines procurement and reduces bureaucratic drag.

“Testing early and often is essential at early stages of development, but testing for the sake of testing inhibits progress and delays delivery,” he said.

Central to the overhaul are new “portfolio scorecards” designed to force accountability and immediately assess whether weapons systems can be deployed quickly to operational units.

“We will shine a light on performance standards,” Hegseth said. “Our primary performance measure is how long it takes to put weapons in the hands of our men and women who use them if and when necessary.”

A significant portion of current U.S. military hardware is sitting idle, the secretary warned, either stuck in repair depots or delayed by sluggish supply chains.

“Far too many systems are languishing in shipyards and waiting years for parts,” he said. “We will maximize the number of weapons systems that are available for conflict. The faster we can deliver modern weapons systems, the faster we can retire decades-old legacy systems.”

The strategic shift aligns with President Trump’s escalating campaign to disrupt transnational drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Recent air operations targeting cartel-aligned maritime corridors have already resulted in dozens of casualties among suspected smugglers.

President Trump has also signaled that limited, targeted land strikes in Venezuela could be on the table as a preemptive measure to protect the U.S. homeland from narcotics infiltration.

While Pentagon officials have not confirmed upcoming operations, Hegseth’s remarks underscore a post-appeasement doctrine: the United States will be ready to act without hesitation.

Defense insiders said the speech represents a break from the era of managerial defense culture that often prioritized paperwork over preparedness.

“He’s making clear that the United States is done with bureaucratic defense management,” one defense official said privately. “The Pentagon is preparing to move at the speed of conflict.”

The “wartime footing” initiative will involve contracting reforms, accelerated weapons production, modernized supply chains, and upgraded readiness standards for kinetic and cyber forces alike. In Hegseth’s words, it’s about ensuring American warfighters are equipped for real conflict, not trapped under Cold War-era paperwork.

“Our enemies should understand exactly what FAFO means,” Hegseth said. “America is ready — and so are her warriors.”