Hegseth Lauds New American Golden Age During Arsenal of Freedom Tour Stop

During the second of two stops on his Arsenal of Freedom tour today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth praised the progress the U.S. and its defense industrial base have made over the past two years under President Donald J. Trump's administration.

He spoke to the media after visiting Riverside Machine and Engineering in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

"Under President Trump, it truly is a golden age of American manufacturing, where supply chains are coming home [and] production's coming home. They're able to make things here [in the U.S.], and it's more high quality for us when it is," Hegseth said, adding that being able to rely on U.S.-based defense manufacturing is what the Arsenal of Freedom tour is meant to showcase.

Speaking to a group of the facility's workers, Hegseth made clear that he views those who help build up the industrial base as part of the overall tactical "kill chain" that the military relies on to defeat the enemy.

"You're part of the reality of how our warfighters get what they need on the front lines; you are shoulder to shoulder with them," he said.

"It's helmets and hard hats together; and - ultimately - the arsenal of freedom is about you," he added.

Hegseth emphasized the importance of workers like those who were in the crowd and how they are directly tied to the military's success. He said he had just returned from a visit to U.S. Central Command's area of operations in the Middle East, and the service members on the ground there supporting Operation Epic Fury rely on materiel produced in Wisconsin.

"[The deployed service members] have confidence in each other, and they should because they're the most well-trained troops on planet Earth. But they also have confidence in the systems that they've been provided; the very same systems that you've put parts into every single day, right here," Hegseth said.

He noted that those same service members know their equipment will work when it matters.

"Because you made the investment time and time again, and those things working when it matters began with somebody on the shop floor clocking in, kicking off the assembly line [and] putting in the long hours needed to get the job done," Hegseth told the group.

As the secretary wound down his remarks, he thanked the workers for their labor and ingenuity. He assured them they will always have the support of the president and himself as companies like Riverside continue to build up the country's defense industrial base.

"You are helping to restore our nation's strength, heal our defense industrial base and ensure that, for generations, America remains the strongest military in human history," Hegseth said.

"We're going to keep applying good old-fashioned Wisconsin common sense, and we are never going to apologize for being proud of our warfighters in this great republic that is now 250 years young. May we fight for it [and] defend it for 250 more," he concluded.

Hegseth initially launched the Arsenal of Freedom tour in early January. Since then, the tour has made more than a dozen stops throughout the U.S.

The label "Arsenal of Freedom" harkens back to the Arsenal of Democracy: America's massive, pre-World War II industrial mobilization to produce the ships, aircraft, weapons and additional materiel needed to arm the country and its Allies.