Hegseth Dismantles Dem Parroting Newsom’s Claim That Troops Aren’t Being Fed

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) parroted the attacks made by Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) regarding the National Guard troops who were deployed to put an end to dangerous and violent riots in Los Angeles — namely that President Donald Trump and the Defense Department under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — had sent in troops without providing them with food or lodging.

Newsom posted the attack on Monday afternoon, sharing photos and addressing Trump directly: “You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another.”

You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep.

Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another.

If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/4i8VIiYZLr pic.twitter.com/sUYD2KHu6O

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025

Aguilar’s line of questioning, directed at Hegseth less than 24 hours later, could have been lifted directly from Newsom’s post: “… troops sleeping on the floor, and have not been provided fuel, food, or water by DoD. How long will this deployment last and why were we unprepared to provide them basic necessities such as food and water?” he asked.

WATCH:

. @SecDef just dismantled the accusation that our troops in California are not being fed or housed.

We have a secretary that is putting our warfighters needs FIRST! pic.twitter.com/9ziFCvt10f

— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 10, 2025

“The commanders and troops in the field are very well prepared,” Hegseth replied. “They responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment and capabilities. We have made sure from the top down. As the Secretary of Defense who has been in a unit holding riot shields outside the White House during the chaos of the summer of 2020, I know what it’s like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that.”

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“There are moments where you make do as best you can, temporarily,” he continued, adding, “But we are ensuring they’re housed, fed, water, capabilities in real time, from my office, because I care that much about the California Guard and the Marines and the men and women who are supporting our ICE agents on the ground.”

“Those are photos of yesterday, so you should check with your office,” Aguilar jabbed at Hegseth.

“It’s true every day,” Hegseth shot back. “And that’s a disingenuous attack that misrepresents how much we care about our troops and what they’re doing to defend ICE agents.”

Aguilar attempted to talk over Hegseth, but the Defense Secretary was not having it: “I’m not going to take the fact that ‘we don’t care about the troops,’ nobody cares more about the troops at the top than this Secretary and the Chairman and our department.”

Aguilar redirected then, asking how long the troops were being deployed — and Hegseth said that the orders were for 60 days.

“We want to ensure that those rioters, looters, and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere,” he said.