Hegseth Harnesses His Trump Voice to Offer ‘Total Pardon’ to Military Cadets for ‘Minor’ Infractions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the commencement address Saturday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but not before dishing out what’s become a hallmark of the Trump administration — blanket pardons.

“West Point class of 2026, good morning and congratulations,” Hegseth began as a steady rain poured down on the cadets. “I bring you greetings from our commander in chief, President Donald J. Trump,” he said to applause.

“Now, most senior leaders wait until the end to have this discussion, but I’m just going to come off the top rope right now and get this out of the way,” Hegseth continued. “For all those cadets who’ve committed minor infractions or violations of the regulations of the United States Military Academy, for which ordinary and special punishment has been imposed or is being considered. To the corps of cadets, as President Trump might say, ‘A complete and total pardon,'” Hegseth said, doing his best Trump impression.

When the cadets burst into cheers and applause, Hegseth added, “Man! They must have done a lot!”

Hegseth then regaled the cadets with biblical scripture.

“Well, on a day like today, there’s no better way to start than with a word from scripture,” Hegseth said, continuing:

And on a day as special as this, for the 998 great Americans of this class, there’s no more fitting verse than from Isaiah 6:8. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, ‘Here I am. send me.'”

Four years ago, you raised your right hand, swore an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution, and in that moment you said to your country, “Send me.” And here you are. You survived beast barracks. You survived the early morning formation, the Saturday morning inspections, the academics, the grueling demands, and you beat the dean multiple times over. You’ve proven that you have what it takes to lead our nation’s top 1%. America’s most valued treasure, America’s sons and daughters. The American soldier. And now today, we are going to send you. We’re sending you to lead, we’re sending you to forge warriors. And we are sending you perhaps to war. And you are ready.

Regarding the war with Iran, the president sent a Truth Social Saturday hinting that the U.S. was close to reaching a peace agreement.

“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries,” Trump wrote. “Separately, I had a call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, which, likewise, went very well. Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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