This week, I sat down with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in his Pentagon office. We discussed military readiness, the restoration of the warrior ethos, his leadership philosophy, and his G.I. Joe collection. The full transcript is printed below.

REDFIELD: Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining me.

HEGSETH: Before we begin, Hoyt, I want to know who gave you that question.

REDFIELD: I simply thanked you for joining me.

HEGSETH: That is how it starts. A pleasant little greeting. Then suddenly it is “Why are you destroying the military?” and “Why is Snake Eyes sitting in the chairman’s seat?” I know the media’s tactics.

REDFIELD: I have always admired you, sir.

HEGSETH: Good answer.

REDFIELD: You frequently speak about restoring the warrior ethos. What does the warrior ethos mean to you?

HEGSETH: Unbelievable.

REDFIELD: I apologize. Was the question unfair?

HEGSETH: You ask me what the warrior ethos means, as if it needs to be explained. Would you ask a lion what roaring means? Would you ask a battleship why it has guns? Would you ask Duke from G.I. Joe why he wears ammunition across his chest even though he never appears to reload?

No. Because the answer is obvious.

The warrior ethos is strength. It is lethality. It is shaving every morning with cold water while maintaining eye contact with yourself in the mirror. It is walking into the Pentagon carrying a coffee mug that says WAR BOY and not making eye contact with a single one of your lessers.

For too long, our military focused on distractions like logistics, maintenance, procurement, cybersecurity and whether soldiers had working housing.

That is not warfighting.

Warfighting is attitude.

If an aircraft cannot fly, paint a shark mouth on it. Now it wants to fly.

If a ship has mechanical problems, make the crew do more push-ups.

If ammunition stocks are low, stop whining about it.

That is the warrior ethos.

REDFIELD: Powerful. How do you measure whether the military is becoming more lethal?

HEGSETH: There it is.

REDFIELD: There what is?

HEGSETH: The trap.

“Measure.”

You want spreadsheets. Metrics. Data. Probably a pie chart with little colors on it.

Warriors do not use pie charts, Hoyt. Warriors eat pie with their hands while standing over a map.

The previous Pentagon measured everything. Recruitment. Readiness. Cost overruns. Aircraft availability.

And what did that get us?

Numbers.

I measure lethality by walking through the building and seeing who looks scared of me.

Last week, three civilian analysts avoided eye contact in the hallway. A fourth made eye contact. He’s fired.

Readiness is up.

REDFIELD: There have been reports that you keep an extensive collection of military action figures in this office.

HEGSETH: Reports from whom?

REDFIELD: I can see them behind you.

HEGSETH: Those are tactical visualization assets.

REDFIELD: One appears to be riding a plastic dinosaur.

HEGSETH: That is a classified Indo-Pacific scenario.

REDFIELD: And the aircraft carrier on your desk?

HEGSETH: USS Freedom Thunder.

REDFIELD: Is that an actual vessel?

HEGSETH: It is more real than half the Navy’s diversity initiatives.

REDFIELD: I notice Cobra Commander is positioned inside Iran.

HEGSETH: Operational security, Hoyt.

REDFIELD: Of course.

HEGSETH: You cannot just walk into the secretary of defense’s office and start revealing force posture.

REDFIELD: I apologize.

HEGSETH: The red figures are hostile forces. The blue figures are America. The green figures are allies, except France, which is represented by this tiny white napkin.

REDFIELD: Why a napkin?

HEGSETH: It folds easily.

REDFIELD: Oh, I thought you were going to say because it looks like a flag of surrender.

HEGSETH: *heavy breathing*

REDFIELD: Let’s move on. Critics say military planning may require more than instinct and toughness. How do you respond?

HEGSETH: Critics.

There is that word.

Who are these critics? Professors? Retired generals? People who have read books?

I have hosted television.

These so-called experts hide behind fifty-page strategic assessments filled with coward words like “risk,” “capacity,” “constraints” and “second-order effects.”

I need one page.

Top half: enemies.

Bottom half: bombs.

Arrow between them.

That is a war plan.

REDFIELD: Some lawmakers have asked whether your department has adequate ammunition reserves for multiple conflicts.

HEGSETH: That question is disgusting.

REDFIELD: I meant no disrespect.

HEGSETH: You are asking the secretary of defense to reveal exactly how many missiles America has.

Why not ask me where the president sleeps?

Why not ask for the nuclear codes?

Why not put on a little Iranian hat and finish the job?

REDFIELD: I withdraw the question.

HEGSETH: Good. But since you raised it, we have plenty.

REDFIELD: How many?

HEGSETH: Nice try.

REDFIELD: Mr. Secretary, how do you balance toughness with the enormous administrative demands of running the Pentagon?

HEGSETH: I delegate.

REDFIELD: To whom?

HEGSETH: A lieutenant colonel named Brad who understands printers.

My responsibility is larger.

I establish the mood.

Every morning, I enter the building to heavy-metal music. At 0900, we conduct a warrior ethos meeting. At 1000, I review photographs of tanks. After lunch, I move the tactical visualization assets around until the situation looks more favorable.

Sometimes I stand by the window and whisper “lethality.”

Leadership is about presence.

REDFIELD: What happens during the warrior ethos meeting?

HEGSETH: First, everyone says what animal they would be in combat.

Anyone who says deer is fired.

Then we watch a clip from Top Gun: Maverick.

Then I ask every service chief whether his branch is ready to dominate.

They say yes.

Meeting over.

Under the previous administration, that would have taken four hours and included a breakout session.

REDFIELD: What animal are you in combat?

HEGSETH: Wolf.

REDFIELD: Naturally.

HEGSETH: Specifically a wolf with an American flag painted on its face.

REDFIELD: You have faced criticism over your management style. Does that ever bother you personally?

HEGSETH: I do not care about criticism.

REDFIELD: Not at all?

HEGSETH: Who said I care?

REDFIELD: Nobody.

HEGSETH: Because it sounded like you were suggesting I care.

I have a binder of every negative article written about me, but that is not because I care. It is intelligence gathering.

I know the names of every reporter, their editors, their spouses, their favorite restaurants and whether they have ever used the phrase “military norms.”

That is battlespace awareness.

REDFIELD: How do you unwind after a difficult day?

HEGSETH: I do not unwind. Springs unwind. Warriors remain coiled.

But occasionally I conduct tabletop exercises.

REDFIELD: With the action figures?

HEGSETH: Tactical visualization assets.

REDFIELD: My apologies.

HEGSETH: Last night, Destro attempted to seize Greenland.

REDFIELD: How did it end?

HEGSETH: Total American victory.

REDFIELD: Was the outcome ever in doubt?

HEGSETH: Not after I introduced the Millennium Falcon.

REDFIELD: Is that not from a different toy franchise?

HEGSETH: Joint operations.

REDFIELD: Excellent point.

HEGSETH: People get trapped in old thinking. Army. Navy. Air Force. G.I. Joe. Star Wars.

I see capabilities.

REDFIELD: We have time for one final question. What do you hope your legacy as secretary of defense will be?

HEGSETH: Legacy is a liberal word.

I care about victory.

I want future generations to look back and say Pete Hegseth restored the American warrior.

He removed softness. He eliminated weakness. He made every briefing shorter and every vehicle look cooler.

When I arrived, the Pentagon was a gray office building full of bureaucrats.

When I leave, it will be a command fortress with flame decals.

Every soldier will know how to fight.

Every general will own wraparound sunglasses.

Every aircraft will have a nickname.

And somewhere in this office, a small plastic American hero will always be standing on top of a defeated Cobra tank, reminding our enemies that freedom never runs out of batteries.

REDFIELD: Inspiring. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

HEGSETH: Why are you ending the interview?

REDFIELD: We have reached our allotted time.

HEGSETH: So you are cutting me off.