Pete Hegseth may have spilled the beans on the upcoming National Defense Strategy

Did the Secretary of War just reveal his strategic priorities between the homeland, China, and Russia in a Fox News interview at a football field?

Let me do just a little bit of America watching today.

On September 5, 2025, or a month ago, Politico ran this major scoop

Pentagon plan prioritizes homeland over China threat

This marks a major departure from the first Trump administration, which emphasized deterring Beijing.

Pentagon officials are proposing the department prioritize protecting the homeland and Western Hemisphere, a striking reversal from the military’s yearslong mandate to focus on the threat from China.

A draft of the newest National Defense Strategy, which landed on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desk last week, places domestic and regional missions above countering adversaries such as Beijing and Moscow, according to three people briefed on early versions of the report.

Pentagon officials are proposing the department prioritize protecting the homeland and Western Hemisphere, a striking reversal from the military’s yearslong mandate to focus on the threat from China.

A draft of the newest National Defense Strategy, which landed on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desk last week, places domestic and regional missions above countering adversaries such as Beijing and Moscow, according to three people briefed on early versions of the report.

The move would mark a major shift from recent Democrat and Republican administrations, including President Donald Trump’s first term in office, when he referred to Beijing as America’s greatest rival. And it would likely inflame China hawks in both parties who view the country’s leadership as a danger to U.S. security.

“This is going to be a major shift for the U.S. and its allies on multiple continents,” said one of the people briefed on the draft document. “The old, trusted U.S. promises are being questioned.”

The report usually comes out at the start of each administration, and Hegseth could still make changes to the plan…

So the question is, will he?

Two days ago, on October 5, the Secretary of War gave an interview to Fox News, his previous employer, at a football game among the U.S. military.

The more relevant 72-second-long clip is here

Reporter: Something else the troops have been doing, the Department of War has been deploying National Guardsmen to dangerous downtowns throughout this country. If a young man or woman signs up today, are they more likely to deploy in their career to the Middle East or to the Midwest?

HEGSETH: [Laughter] Well, I’ll tell you this, the era of sort of reckless adventurism around the globe is over. We’re introducing, President Trump is, clear missions, clear end states. I mean, even the renaming of the department from the Department of Defense to the Department of War is about clarity. We’re not interested in endless, unclear missions. You go to war, you go to war decisively with a clear mission to win it and then come home. So you are not going to see nation building abroad. In that sense, they’re less likely. President Trump’s willing to stand alongside law enforcement and make sure they’re safe in their duty, so in that sense they’re more likely. But we’re here to defend the hemisphere, the homeland, defend the border, deter China, make sure Europe does — shoulders more of the burden. So I don’t know exactly where everybody will be or but we’re going to be laser focused on America First, peace through strength, and that’s what President Trump delivers.

Reporter: Pete, based on your answer about no more foreign entanglements, endless entanglements, the way you see it right now at the Department of War, the greater — which would be the greatest threat to the U.S. homeland, China, Russia or Antifa?

HEGSETH: [Laughter] Well, depends on where you are, right? I mean, ultimately — looks like Navy just scored.

Reporter: They like that answer.

HEGSETH: They like that answer a lot. I think they vote for defending the homeland. Ultimately, we’re going to defend the homeland first. That’s most important.

The invasion of our southern border, what Joe Biden unleashed, is a sin, it’s a sin. And we’re undoing it by locking down the border and supporting mass deportations. Not knowing who’s in your country when they’re not citizens is dangerous whether it’s Antifa, cartels, foreign terrorist organizations, whether it’s Iranians, you name it. Islamists, you can’t have it.

So we’re locking that down while at the same time ensuring we have the kind of power projection posture. That’s why President Trump spent a trillion dollars, we’re going to spend even more. So that we can project power. Our ships are capable of doing that and Air Force are capable of doing that. So our adversaries far away don’t feel like they can move into our hemisphere and threaten us here.

So there are a lot of threats. Defending the homeland is first and foremost, and we’re going to be a part of all spectrums of that.

Looks like he wouldn’t.