Hegseth, Homan visit Texas to meet troops on border

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday touched down in Texas en route to the U.S. border with Mexico, his first trip since taking office.

Hegseth, who traveled with White House border czar Tom Homan, first stopped at Fort Bliss in El Paso to meet with troops tasked with fortifying the southern border — a priority for the Pentagon under President Trump.

“Looking forward to meeting our great warriors and seeing the hard work they are doing securing our southern border. We will continue to deliver on this vital mission,” Hegseth said in a post on the social platform X.

While there, Hegseth was briefed by U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) leaders on homeland defense and security priorities at the border, according to an update on the trip posted to X.

Speaking to reporters while on the ground, Hegseth pledged “100 percent operational control of the border,” with the surging of manpower and assets to the area.

“Any assets necessary at the Defense Department to support the expulsion and detention of those in the country illegally are on the table,” he said.

Since beginning his second term, Trump has declared a national emergency at the southern border and signed a slew of executive orders intended to crack down on immigration. As part of the effort, he has turned to the military to beef up security at the border, fly migrants out of the United States and house them at bases.

Trump has already ordered 1,500 active-duty troops to the border to survey the area and assist law enforcement with logistics and fencing, and Hegseth over the weekend approved another 500 to be sent. The additional troops, who will begin to make their way there this week, join the 2,500 service members who were already at the border prior to the new Trump administration, bringing the total force number to 4,500.

As part of the additional 500 troops, members of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., will help set up a headquarters to lead the military’s expanded role at the border.

Hegseth said that the thousands of extra troops will help free up overwhelmed Customs and Border Protection agents who are there to fight an “invasion.”

He also claimed that under the Biden administration, border agents were “babysitting” and processing migrants who crossed illegally and then were released.

Trump also signed a directive last week for the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, a facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several involved in the 9/11 attacks. 

Marines arrived at Guantánamo over the weekend to prepare for the expansion, and Homan has said he hopes individuals can be moved there within 30 days.

Trump on Monday said Mexico’s president agreed to immediately send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. border — part of a deal in which Trump will pause for one month his new 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Mexico. 

—Updated at 5:41 p.m.