Pete Hegseth hosts first-ever Pentagon Christmas tree lighting

New York Post

Watch Pete Hegseth hosts first-ever Pentagon Christmas tree lighting - New York Post on Dailymotion

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00:00Merry Christmas everybody. What a wonderful and special evening. Thank you all for joining us,

00:09our family, almost all of our family. We're missing three, but we'll have them for Christmas.

00:14And we want to thank all of your families as well for the support you give as warriors and

00:19civilians inside this department to the entire country in support of this mission. I see some

00:25kiddos here. Excellent. I hope all you kiddos know that your moms and dads are heroes

00:32who fight and work to support our country. So I keep them away from home a little bit more than I

00:39should. They work hard and they're heroes to support the country. I hope you get some hot

00:44chocolate, some cookies, and maybe, maybe a photo with Santa. I don't know. I can't promise.

00:53I haven't seen them, but we have a lot of radars. Heard he could be in the area.

01:00We are gathered to celebrate the blessing of Christmas season here at the Pentagon.

01:05And a couple of months ago, my wife said, babe, President Trump brought Merry Christmas back.

01:11We're going to bring Christmas back to the Pentagon. And that's what we're doing.

01:15We are going to light a new permanent Christmas tree. And this one is a beauty. A 14-foot Nellie

01:25Stevens Holly from Chantilly, Virginia, local. They say when the tree was planted, there were bald

01:32eagles flying overhead. True story. Fitting for this building. It will grow to 30 feet tall and live for

01:39at least 50 years. A fitting tribute to the warrior ethos here. It replaced a small serviceberry tree

01:48that was slated for removal anyway. So it made sense. But we're here to remember the real reason

01:55for the season. It's easy to get caught up. It happens with our family all the time. The

01:59commercialism of the moment is a very real thing. The commercials come, the clicking goes, the lists

02:04grow. You get to the cards and the travel and the end of your business and you get wrapped up in it.

02:10But in this season of Advent, Christians are called to pause and reflect. To turn away from the things

02:17of the world and look upward toward the anticipation of the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

02:24We remember and await the coming of our Lord. He was born of the Virgin Mary into the humblest

02:29of circumstances in the city of Bethlehem. The Savior who took on flesh and made the ultimate

02:36sacrifice for all of us in our salvation. That is the real reason for the season.

02:43So in this season, we worship, we reflect, we rest, and of course with our families, we eventually

02:49feast. We prepare to spend time together, remember the ones that we love, and we remember the ones

02:56that are fighting to protect all of us. To bring peace on earth and goodwill toward men, except

03:06narco-terrorists. We want to ensure every family everywhere enjoys a peaceful Christmas Eve and

03:16Christmas Day. That's our job. President Trump is bringing on behalf of the American people peace

03:23through strength. And you get that peace through strength. This is the strength department.

03:29Our job is to stand ready, stand tall, and be prepared. And that's what our men and women

03:34do around the globe every day. Jen and I had a chance to go out to an aircraft carrier and a destroyer

03:41over Thanksgiving and eat some Thanksgiving turkey with the troops. It was incredible. I couldn't think

03:44of a better way to spend Thanksgiving. And as someone who's spent three of those Thanksgiving

03:50Christmas seasons away from family, it's a mixed feeling. You love who you're with, the folks

03:56you're serving with. It's a sort of unique special moment you're going to have a few times or once

04:00with these people. But you're also thinking about everybody back home. I mean, you're waiting for

04:05that, to get a chance to make that phone call or send that message, and waiting for next year when

04:10you'll be with them, knowing that everyone's a few inches taller, the little ones, and you've missed a

04:15few memories. But you're doing it. This department does it for the rest of the country. And so we

04:23remember the reason for the season, Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem. But we also here, in a special

04:28way, in this city, in this courtyard, remember the men and women who do it for all of us.

04:35That's who we serve. I serve Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, and then we serve the men and women

04:41who serve us. We are servants. And this season, we think about them, we pray for them, we remember

04:47them, and may this tree honor them as well. As they are apart from their families, we remember

04:53their sacrifice and their dedication. And that the ribbons and the bows and the presents and all the

05:01beautiful things under the tree are a wonderful earthly symbol of the way we love each other. But that

05:07Christ loved us so much to come in human form in the form of the most humble possible way

05:12to the Virgin Mary in the form of a baby in Nowhereville, Bethlehem, to fulfill the promise

05:18Christ made to save the world. And so we remember that here at the Pentagon. So join us in observing

05:23this Christmas season. It doesn't stop right here. We put together a series of Christmas events

05:30to include a Christmas worship service in a couple of weeks, where we'll have actually Franklin

05:35Graham is going to join us to give some remarks and we'll worship as well. So we're doing up

05:41Christmas big here because we should. I mean, George Washington took bended knee because he

05:48understood he needed the help and assistance and wisdom of providence. The task was too big,

05:54the threat too big, literally the British Empire impossible to defeat. In the dead of winter,

06:00in the cold of night, of course, then not only did he pray, but he attacked on Christmas Eve.

06:05We have that kind of mentality here too. We're going to be on bended knee, appealing to providence,

06:11but then always poised and ready to do the business of the American people. That is the unique spirit

06:16of Christmas at the Pentagon. And I want to thank you all for joining with us tonight, for kicking it off

06:26with the lighting of this tree. And we hope you enjoy some hot chocolate and some treats and some games

06:32and whatever other good stuff's around here. And maybe, maybe we'll see Santa Claus.

06:38I don't know.

06:41So God bless you all. God bless your families. Thank you for joining us.

06:45We're going to light the tree to kick off the Christmas season and a series of events

06:59that are coming with it. Thank you, babe. Thank you for making it happen.

07:02Thank you for being here.

07:05All right, kiddos, you ready? Should we count down and light the tree?

07:11Yeah. All right. All right, put your hands on it, Gwenny. Everybody else, get up there, Luke.

07:17All right, we're going to count down for five. We'll get it right. All right, five, four, three, two, one.

07:26All right.

07:41As we gather around the Christmas tree this holiday season, my, oh my goodness, what is that clinking sound?

07:58Oh, what's that on the building over on the left?

08:02Hopefully, it's not that three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.

08:08No, it's not that grinchy character. It's Santa.

08:38Max, Max, get the sleigh. We're leaving. These people are smiling.

09:04I can't work under these conditions. Note to self. Next year, we fake an illness.

09:12Ladies and gentlemen, please continue to enjoy our musical entertainment, courtesy of the United States Navy Band.

09:34Have a wonderful holiday season and Merry Christmas.

09:42With that, we have a great year.

09:50We'll be back in a minute.

09:52We'll be back.

09:54We'll be back.

09:56We'll be back.

09:58We'll be back.

10:00We'll be back.

10:02We'll be back.

10:04We'll be back.

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