00:00Now, on to Homeland Defense.
00:04President Trump and Secretary Hagseth have been very, very clear that border security
00:09is national security.
00:10We spent decades defending foreign nations' borders, while our own U.S. border has been
00:16invaded by criminal, illegal aliens, human smugglers, drug traffickers, and transnational
00:22gangs.
00:24The Department of Defense is proud to defend our homeland and the territorial sovereignty
00:30of the United States.
00:33Although we've seen a 93% decrease in illegal border crossings, we will not stop until we
00:40have 100% operational control of our southern border.
00:45And over the weekend, Joint Task Force Southern Border assumed the mission from Joint Task
00:50Force North and reached initial operating capacity.
00:54Additionally, U.S. Northern Command announced on Saturday that the Arleigh Burke-class guided
00:59missile destroyer, the USS Gravely, departed Naval Weapons Station Georgetown for a scheduled
01:05deployment to the Gulf of America.
01:08We're actually making some history from the podium today.
01:11It's the first time we've recognized the Gulf of America in the Pentagon Press Briefing
01:15Room, which is kind of cool.
01:17So it's not only vital for the United States to have control of our border via land, it's
01:22equally important to control our territorial waters.
01:27And this deployment directly supports U.S. Northern Command's mission to protect our
01:31sovereignty.
01:33And lastly, Secretary Hegseth spoke with Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs, His
01:39Excellency Sheikh Saud Al-Thani, to discuss operations to eliminate the Houthi threat
01:45to American commerce and restore American freedom of navigation.
01:49The Secretary acknowledged Qatar's strong partnership in addressing shared security
01:54challenges across the region, including Syria and the Red Sea.
01:59And with that, I'll turn it over to Mike.
Comments