We negotiate with bombs: Pete Hegseth applauds Trump’s Iran war call

In a moment that sounded less like restraint and more like raw power, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth credited President Donald Trump for allowing the military to strike Iran “as viciously as possible”.

“The air campaign we’ve conducted was one for the history books,” Hegseth said on Wednesday, adding, “we have a president who when he sends his warfighters out to fight, he unties their hands to actually go out and destroy the enemy as viciously as possible from moment one.”

It was praise, unmistakably. It was also a clear window into how this war has been fought.

Hegseth did not attempt to soften the doctrine.

“We negotiate with bombs,” he said, doubling down on a line that now defines Washington’s approach to the conflict.

The comment comes even as talks with Iran continue in parallel, a combination of diplomacy and destruction that has become the hallmark of the current strategy.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for the Secretary of Homeland Security, Hegseth painted a picture of overwhelming force.

“Never in history has a modern military… been so rapidly and historically obliterated, defeated, from day one with overwhelming firepower,” he said.

“You have a choice, as we loiter over the top of Tehran, about your future.”

He added that Trump had made the objective clear: Iran would not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

“The President has made it clear that you will not have a nuclear weapon. The war department agrees, our job is to ensure that.”

Hegseth signalled there would be no let-up just yet.

“We are keeping our hand on that throttle as long and as hard as is necessary to ensure that the interests of the United States of America are achieved on that battlefield,” he said.

“He has been very clear with us about what we need to accomplish… creating the conditions for them never to have a nuclear capability, and that is exactly what we are doing in a historic fashion.”