Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine
Hold a Press Briefing
May 5, 2026
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE
HEGSETH: Well, as you know, President Trump has directed U.S. Central
Command to restart the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz under
the umbrella of Project Freedom. To be clear, this operation is separate and
distinct from Operation Epic Fury. Project Freedom is defensive in nature,
focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting
innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.
American forces won't
need to enter Iranian waters or airspace. It's not necessary. We're not looking
for a fight, but Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and
their goods from an international waterway. Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing
civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately and
weaponizing a critical chokepoint for its own financial benefit, or at least
trying to.
For too long, Iran has
been harassing ships, shooting at civilian tankers from all nations and trying
to impose a tolling system. Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is
unacceptable. That ends with Project Freedom. Two U.S. commercial ships, along
with American destroyers, have already safely transited the strait, showing the
lane is clear.
We know the Iranians are
embarrassed by this fact. They said they control the strait. They do not. So,
American ships led the way, commercial and military shouldering the initial
risk from the front, as Americans always do. And right now, hundreds more ships
from nations around the world are lining up to transit.
CENTCOM, along with
partner nations, is in active communication with hundreds of ships, shipping
companies and insurers. All of these ships from all around the world want to
get out of the Iranian trap that they have been stuck inside. As a direct gift
from the United States to the world, we have established a powerful red, white
and blue dome over the strait.
American destroyers are
on station, supported by hundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones, and
surveillance aircraft, providing 24/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels
except Iran's, of course, which is why our ironclad blockade remains in full
effect as well. In fact, six ships tried to run the blockade out of Iranian ports
as Project Freedom commenced, and they were all turned around.
This is more than
strategy. It's also humanitarian. By breaking Iran's illegal stranglehold,
we're protecting the lives and livelihoods of sailors from dozens of countries,
securing global energy routes and preventing shortages that hit the world's
poorest people the hardest. Once again, America is using its strength to lift
up others. Iran is trying to subjugate the world.
To what remains of Iran's
forces, if you attack American troops or innocent commercial shipping, you will
face overwhelming and devastating American firepower. The President has been
very clear about this. We prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are
locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this
mission without hesitation.
To Iran, let innocent
ships pass freely. These international waters belong to all nations, not to
Iran to tax, toll or control. To our partner — partners, allies and the rest of
the world, this is a temporary mission for us. As I've said before, the world
needs this waterway a lot more than we do. We're stabilizing the situation so
commerce can flow again, but we expect the world to step up. At the appropriate
time and soon, we will hand responsibility back to you.
To the incredible
Americans executing this mission right now, simply thank you. Your courage,
your readiness, your unmatched professionalism and precision are why the world
can breathe easier today and every day. You are and always will be the greatest
fighting force in human history, unmatched always.
Project Freedom is
underway. Commerce will be flowing, and America is once again leading with
strength, clarity, and purpose for the benefit of the entire world. Our will is
unshakable. God bless our troops and God bless the mighty United States Navy as
well.
Mr. Chairman, over to
you.
GENERAL DAN CAINE:
Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for being
here. On Sunday, at the direction of the President, CENTCOM initiated Project
Freedom with the objective of facilitating the safe passage of international
commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Over the past seven weeks,
Iran's repeatedly threatened and attacked commercial shipping in the strait in
order to effectively cut off commercial traffic and damage the global
economy.
By obstructing one of the
world's most critical maritime checkpoints, a vital transit route for
approximately one-fifth of the global oil consumption, Iran is weaponizing the
global supply chain. This action disregards established navigational rights in
the law of the sea, and the regime, led by the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps], is effectively attempting to hold the entire global economy
hostage.
Let me give you an update
of the last few days of activities. And if you take a look at the map here, as
the Secretary said, the United States has established Project Freedom to open
up the Strait of Hormuz. This graphic highlights the kinetic engagements that
the Iranians have attempted to make or have taken against the region.
The green dots and blue
dots show the groupings of commercial cargo and tanker vessels. And the United
States has established a significant presence over the strait here in order to
open up the free flow of commerce, noting the blockade can — still continues
along the eastern flank.
The map shows the
examples and samples of Iranian attacks against commercial vessels in the
strait, as well as the Gulf of Oman and up in the Arabian Gulf. Since the
ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and
seized two container ships, and they've attacked U.S. forces more than ten
times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this
point.
You can also see the
group of tankers and cargo vessels in the U.S., blockade line, as I mentioned.
As a result of Iran's indiscriminate attacks across the region, there are
currently — 22,500 mariners embarked on more than 1,550 commercial vessels
trapped in the Arabian Gulf, unable to transit.
In addition to shipping,
Iran has continued to deliberately attack its neighbors. Just yesterday, Iran
attacked Oman once and the UAE three times, including an attack on Fujairah oil
terminal, which was successfully defeated. They also launched cruise missiles,
drones, small boats at U.S. forces defending commercial shipping in the
straits, and United States Navy MH-60 helicopters and Army AH-64 Apache
helicopters successfully defeated those threats. Thus far, today is quieter.
Let me describe this
defensive operation just a few clicks down for you. As the secretary said,
Project Freedom is designed to protect commercial shipping and help restore the
flow of commerce through the strait and sustain freedom of navigation. CENTCOM
has established an enhanced security area on the southern side of the strait
that is now protected by U.S. land, naval and air assets to help defeat further
Iranian aggression against commercial shipping.
I'd like to share a
little bit more about U.S. capabilities, but for operational security purposes,
I'm not going to get into specific details out there. On the surface, guided
missile destroyers and other warships are detecting and defeating Iranian
threats. This includes fast boats and one way attack drones.
In the air, more than 100
fighters, attack aircraft and other manned and unmanned aircraft, synchronized
by the 82nd Airborne Division, are in the air 24 hours a day providing
defensive overwatch for the enhanced security area and its approaches that I
discussed.
These forces are
comprised of over 15,000 American service members, and have established
localized air and sea control to protect against Iranian threats. Commercial
vessels that transit through the area will see, hear, and frankly feel U.S.
combat power around them on the sea, in the skies, and on the radio.
And as of this morning,
as was mentioned prior, two U.S. flagged merchant vessels have transited, and
we anticipate more to transit over the coming days. Further up the gulf, US
Naval Forces Central Command continues to work to identify and mitigate any
threats.
Beyond Project Freedom,
CENTCOM and the rest of the joint force remain ready to resume major combat
operations against Iran if ordered to do so. No adversary should mistake our
current restraint with a lack of resolve. And the president has said, as the
secretary has, that now is the time for those with equity stake in the strait
to come assist.
Before I turn it back to
the secretary, I want to take a moment to highlight part of our joint force today,
and today I want to talk about the paratroopers of the United States Army 82nd
Airborne Division. When the President or the secretary need immediate, scalable
and lethal combat power in CENTCOM or elsewhere, the All American Division
answers the call.
The 82nd is the core of
our nation's immediate response force and ready to deploy within hours of
notice. These paratroopers are capable of accomplishing any mission in any
environment, constantly training, constantly ready to jump from Air Force
aircraft into ground combat and seize key terrain if ordered to do so, just
like their predecessors did in Sicily and Normandy in World War II, or to
secure or enable the follow-on forces to flow into theater as they did in
Grenada or Panama.
They can do the range of
missions, from counterinsurgency to counterterrorism operations to power
projection, as they have many times over the course of the history of this
great division. They can do all these things because they're incredibly well
trained, well equipped and well led, but also because of the indomitable spirit
of the All American paratrooper.
Every single one of them
volunteered for this role, volunteered to go to airborne training and
volunteered to serve, but this division is now more than just a formation that
we use for forcible entries. For example, just today they are out there
coordinating, integrating and synchronizing land, air, space, sea and cyber
forces using all — joint all domain command and control.
They use next generation
tactical networks that are AI enabled to augment intelligence and operations,
and they seamlessly synchronize all of these effects and are doing so in
support of Project Freedom as we speak. The relentless focus on technical
innovation allows the commanders out there in the field to see, sense and
understand the opportunities that are in front of them along with the
associated risks, and make smart decisions out on the objective.
With incredible courage,
tenacity and grit, they are going all the way every day. And whenever the
nation calls on them, they are there to answer the call. We are grateful for
their service and their leadership.
Lastly, before I close,
as I often do I want to remember some of our fallen. Today we remember Sgt.
William Rivers, Spc. Brianna Moffett, and Spc. Kennedy Sanders of the 718th
Engineering Company, U.S. Army Reserves, out of Fort Benning, Georgia.
They were tragically
killed on January 28th, 2024 when attacked by an Iranian backed proxy force at
Tower 22 in Jordan. We continue to carry on their memories. We remember their
names. We remember their families. And the secretary and I are deeply grateful
for all of our deployed forces who are out there doing our nation's work.
And sir, with that, I'll
kick it back over to you.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Very good. We'll take a few questions. Go ahead.
Q: Thank you.
Alexandera Ingersoll, One America News. Mr. Secretary, do you assess what's
left of this small boat fleet to be a significant threat or a nuisance to be
managed? And then secondly, what is your message to critics who say that the US
doesn't have a strategy in this mission?
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Well, any threat needs to be taken seriously, and — just like those six
attack boats that the chairman mentioned were taken seriously and dealt with
before they were any real threat to the American military vessels that they
were approaching. And that is — it — small craft like that are all that Iran
has left.
Their ability to get —
close with a destroyer of the capabilities that we have is limited. But we're going
to take it very seriously and kinetically quickly, and we're not going to allow
a threat to gather. And I can tell you, even from just this morning, the
strategy is — remains laser focused.
In fact, what I think you
see from Project Freedom is that we're not allowing ourselves to get
distracted. This is a separate and distinct effort, temporary in nature, that
we plan to hand over the world. The world has expressed a desire to be a part
of this.
As is often the case, or
maybe almost always the case, American leadership is required, so the president
was willing to undertake this, send commercial ships through, send destroyers
in, provide this red, white and blue bubble of protection, and encourage the
world to step up, because ultimately this waterway is, as I said, far more
crucial to the rest of the world and they need to have the ability to defend
it. So, I think this is a reflection of a — of a laser focused strategy,
actually.
Right here.
Q: Morning, Mr.
Secretary, Mr. Chairman. David Zia, Real America's Voice. I wanted to ask you,
of any of the fast boats that have been either sunk or identified, are there
any armaments larger than, say, small, you know, AK-47 type stuff or any
anti-ship cruise missiles identified?
And my second question
is, if there's a divide between the IRGC and Tehran, is there a way to get
Tehran to agree to let us go after the IRGC that — that is doing these attacks
without violating the ceasefire?
SECRETARY HEGSETH: Well,
right now, anything coming at our crafts would — regardless of what's on it,
has to be defended against, and that's the case. I don't know what — the exact
armaments that were on those fast boats.
GENERAL CAINE:
Small arms. Nothing significant on the fast boats.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Rifles or small machine guns. There were some small coastal cruise
missiles shot down as well. So, there's been some frothiness in the beginning
aspects of this that were dealt with very directly by our destroyers. And we're
communicating both overtly and quietly to the Iranians to allow this defensive
operation to happen on behalf of the world.
There are some actions
the IRGC takes sometimes that are outside the bounds of what maybe Iranian
negotiators would like. That's their job to rein that in, and ultimately create
a condition for a deal, right? That's not something I talked about in these
remarks, but that's happening in real time. Iran has an ability to make that
deal.
But what we're
demonstrating with Project Freedom is they don't control the strait. I mean, we
know Iran is embarrassed by the fact that our blockade is holding and we can
run ships through and we're going to help the world run ships through. And if
they hold it at issue, the whole world knows who's doing it. It's not us. We're
willing to open it up. It's Iran, and that creates a dilemma for them, and we
hope they make a deal.
Q: Thank you, sir.
My first question is for General Caine. Mary Margaret with the Daily Wire. You
said that the attacks by Iran so far are below the threshold of restarting
major combat operations. What is that threshold?
And then for Secretary
Hegseth, are there still concerns about mines in the strait? And can you kind
of clarify these reports of kamikaze dolphins that we've heard about?
GENERAL CAINE: I haven't
heard — the kamikaze dolphin thing. It's like sharks with laser beams, right?
GENERAL CAINE: The
threshold of restarting is a political decision above my pay grade. What I'll
say is it's low harassing fire right now. It feels like Iran is grasping at
straws to try to do something across the southern flank.
To your question, David,
their command and control structure remains very fractured, and I think they're
struggling to maintain control down echelon at the edge. But it's still pretty
low level kinetics at this point in time.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
And I can't confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can
confirm they don't, ultimately.
Any follow-on effort, if
there are mines identified, would be something that our — some of our units
could undertake or the world could undertake. But right now, we know we have a
lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through.
Q: Thank you,
Secretary Hegseth. The last 24 hours or so, Iran's fired at us. We've fired at
Iran. I'm just going to ask you more directly. Is the ceasefire over?
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
No, the ceasefire is not over. Ultimately, this is a separate and
distinct project. And we expected there would be some churn at the beginning,
which happened. And we said we would defend and defend aggressively, and we
absolutely have. Iran knows that.
And ultimately, the
President's going to make a decision, whether anything were to escalate, into a
violation of a ceasefire. But certainly, we would urge Iran to be prudent in
the actions that they take to keep that underneath this threshold. This is about
the straits. This is about freedom of navigation. This is about international
waterways.
This is about free flow
of commerce, all the things that happened before and only Iran is contesting.
So, right now, the ceasefire certainly holds, but we're going to be watching
very, very closely.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
James, go ahead.
Q: Mr. Secretary,
thank you. General, thank you. I want to first express my gratitude and
admiration for the work you do and for everyone involved in our armed forces,
and also for the accomplishments of Operation Epic Fury, which I think are too
often dismissed too lightly.
But those accomplishments
don't obscure, I think, a central default that has occurred here, and I would
like you both to address it. On the first day of this conflict, President Trump
addressed the Iranian people directly and said, when we're finished, take over
your government. It'll be yours to take.
And then on the seventh
day of the conflict, in a Truth Social post the president said, "There
will be no deal with Iran except," all caps, exclamation mark,
"unconditional surrender." What happens to that pledge to the
Iranians? And when did the president decide to capitulate on his demand for
unconditional surrender?
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Well, James, I wouldn't — you started out nicely, but you ended — exactly
where we knew you would end. The president hasn't capitulated on anything. He
holds the cards. We remain the — we maintain the upper hand, and Project
Freedom only strengthens that hand. And so, he will ensure that, whatever deal
is made or whatever end state is reached, creates ensuring that Iran never has
a nuclear weapon, which is A number one.
And he's been focused on
that and the deal and discussions are centered on that. And what the Iranian
people take advantage of after the fact is up to them, and he's been very clear
about that. And maybe you do it now. Maybe it happens later. But ultimately,
he's also been clear we're not going to entangle this into some nation building
project.
Our objectives are clear.
They're been pursued from day one. Hopefully, the Iranian people take advantage
of that because they're being taken advantage of by this regime. As you know,
45,000 Iranians, innocent Iranians, killed before the outset of this.
That's what this government
does, kills their own innocent civilians. Getting out from underneath that is
going to be a challenge of the Iranian people, and we certainly hope they take
advantage of that. Thank you.
Q: Thank you, Mr.
Secretary. Can you share any information regarding the South Korean ship that
was reportedly hit by Iran? Is Seoul in contact with the U.S. military about
it? And is there any indication that they would heed Trump's call made on
social media to join Project Freedom?
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
We hope so. We're in contact with that ship — CENTCOM, I should say, and
the Maritime Coordination Forces are in touch. And I think targeting like that
is a reflection of the indiscriminate nature of what Iran is doing.
We hope South Korea would
step up, just like we hope Japan would step up, just like we hope Australia
would step up, just like we hope Europe steps up, but we're not waiting for
them to do so. We're looking to set the conditions to hand to them.
But the President was
clear in his Truth message that, hey, this is your ship. You should take part
in helping to defend it. We very much hope they do. Thanks.
Q: Mr. Secretary,
in terms of new US intelligence reports suggest that a timeline for the war in
Iran to get a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, still at 9 to
12 months. Is that intelligence wrong? How can this be after so much
bombing?
And for General Caine,
going on — back onto what you were talking about, the Strait of Hormuz, the
President recently said that the blockade is even more effective than bombing.
So, why didn't we start the campaign with the blockade? And initially, how many
planned — ships do you plan to escort or take through, commercial ships,
through the Strait of Hormuz today or in the coming days?
SECRETARY HEGSETH: Well,
we don't discuss the specifics about intel, and anybody that does shouldn't be.
And I can't confirm or deny whether that is indeed correct speculation, as far
as I'm concerned, coming from you.
But ultimately, what
Operation Midnight Hammer did in the obliteration of those facilities was set
back their program. And then, because of the efforts of that 12 day war, the
president was able to recognize that this threat, while they continued to seek
nuclear capabilities, their will was still there to seek a nuclear bomb,
ultimately they were creating a conventional umbrella of so many missiles and
so many capabilities that no one would want to challenge them.
Think of the North Korea
— this is the North Korea strategy. We have so many conventional capabilities
you won't do something about it. And underneath that, we're going to develop
more nuclear capability. So, the will was still there.
President Trump had the
courage to say we have to dismantle and take on those conventional
capabilities, while the — while the dust — while the nuclear facilities are
watched 24/7 and overwatched. And we will ensure, one way or another, hopefully
Iran chooses a deal, that they give up those ambitions, give up those
capabilities, and we're able to confirm that every step of the way.
So, President Trump's
been focused on it. He's set them back like no other president. He ripped up
the terrible deal that would have given them a bomb. He took care of it in
Midnight Hammer. We're watching it right now, and ultimately feel good about
the fact that the end state will ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Go ahead.
GENERAL CAINE: Sir,
I'll let CENTCOM talk to the number of ships they're going to take through,
because they're the nearest ones to talking to the commercial shippers and I
don't want to get out in front of them.
On the order and sequence
around the military objectives, that's a decision the President and the
Secretary go — get us at. And at the time, we were focused on the primary
objectives that were in front of us. Thank you for your question.
Q: Ryan Morgan with
The Epoch Times. On Friday, President Trump notified Congress that the
hostilities that began on February 28th had terminated. That came on the
deadline of the 60 day war powers deadline. Will this administration be seeking
Congressional approval for any further military operations if the ceasefire
breaks down?
SECRETARY HEGSETH: Our
view is the one you described that ultimately with the — with the ceasefire,
the clock stops. If it were to restart, that would be the president's decision.
That option is always there, and Iran knows that. And that's why, you know, the
— their choices in Project Freedom are important.
The President retains the
opportunity and the capabilities — more capabilities than we had at the start
of this to restart major combat operations if necessary. If Iran is not willing
to follow through on its side of the bargain or make a deal, then the War
Department is postured, locked, loaded and ready to go. We hope it doesn't have
to go in that direction, but Admiral Cooper and our forces are in a three point
stance and ready to go.
Yeah, last question.
Q: Thank you. Liam
Cosgrove with ZeroHedge. In recent weeks, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Israel's head of Mossad have stated their intent not to cease
combat with the Iranians. Netanyahu put this on Twitter. Israel's head of Mossad
said Israel's goals are not finished until the Iranian government collapses.
And so, they're referring
to the government that President Trump has brokered a ceasefire with and is
working on a lasting peace in the region with. And so, that's, you know, something
many Americans, especially American farmers, are hoping, he does get to a
lasting peace.
And so, if President
Trump is successful in that and the Israelis are explicitly stating their
intent to continue fighting at a later date, how can you ensure America doesn't
get roped back into a war if that comes? And secondly, with Netanyahu
comfortable tweeting something like that out, and also Netanyahu has continued
bombing Lebanon despite President Trump explicitly telling them not to —
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
I would say your question is based on the false premise that somehow
President Trump is being pulled in by Prime Minister Netanyahu —
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
To any of these actions. And I'm — this — that's where you're going. Just
to be clear, President Trump has led at every step of this based on his view of
American interests and America first.
And we are grateful that
Israelis have been very capable partners at many steps of this. And they may
have some objectives at times that are slightly different than ours. But
there's only one hand on the wheel ultimately directing this, whether it's
Project Freedom or previously Operation Epic Fury, and it's President
Trump.
So, we're grateful for
their input, their insights, the existential nature of the threat they face
from an Iranian bomb, the capabilities that they can bring to that. But
ultimately, the coordination will happen with the leadership of President
Trump.
SECRETARY HEGSETH:
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.
hegseth secretary of war caine chairman epic fury Central Command project freedom iran DOW Epic Fury
