U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stressed Christian nationalism during his keynote speech at Thursday’s National Religious Broadcasters’ Freedom 250 Celebration. The event was a part of the larger NRB 2026 International Christian Media Convention at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.
In September, President Donald Trump renamed the Department of Defense as the Department of War by executive order, a move that also changed Hegseth’s title (although not legally).
Hegseth’s remarks came ahead of anticipated large-scale military action against Iran, but the secretary never spoke of or alluded to Iran during his 25-minute speech — which took place just eight months after the U.S. launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Instead, Hegseth proclaimed his commitment to Christian nationalist ideologies to a crowd of several hundred attendees, many of whom waved small American flags that were handed to them as they entered the ballroom.
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"The influence of Christianity on our nation's founding was not merely philosophical," said Hegseth. "It was institutional.”
Christian nationalism is defined, in part, by its adherents' desire to redefine the constitutional concept of separation of church and state. Some Christian nationalists, for example, are comfortable with governments spending taxpayer dollars on Bibles (typically of the Protestant and not Catholic version) to distribute in public schools.
Hegseth's speech was preceded by a group Pledge of Allegiance with help from the U.S. Army 101st Airborne's honor guard and band plus a pledge to the Christian flag. Hegseth called Trump a "fierce defender of Christians and people of faith.”
“Under the leadership of President Trump, the military once again supports and trains our troops and tends to their spiritual health," said Hegseth. "You see, we train our troops. We no longer trans our troops.
“It's pretty simple, but it wasn't before. Gone is godless and divisive DEI. Gone is gender-bending, equity and quotas. Gone is climate-change-worship to a false god. We are one military, one fighting force, one nation under God. We are not 'in woke we trust.' We are 'in God we trust.'”
Hegseth spoke of valuing individual liberty and natural rights and railed against the "radical left," whom he alleged are “fueled by godless and toxic ideologies foreign to the Western way of life, with ‘tolerant’ hearts filled with rage and hate.”
While Hegseth largely avoided addressing military policy during his speech, he didn’t shy away from hardline right-wing positions, characterizing his stances as not political, but instead “biblical.”
“Protecting the God-given life of an unborn baby is not political, it's biblical,” he said. “Protecting our borders from criminals who steal from us, assault our loved ones and poison our citizens is not political. It's biblical. Protecting women and children from being trafficked for sexual slavery is not political. It is biblical. Standing guard over our children rather than letting them be taught perverse sexual practices or sharing a locker room with men pretending to be women is not political. It’s biblical. Protecting our culture and our religion from godless ideologies and pagan religions is not political. It's biblical.”
Hegseth also promoted the monthly Christian prayer services held at the Pentagon, which recently included an appearance by Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, who has said he believes women should submit to men and shouldn’t be able to vote.
“As long as I have breath, I commit to you that I and we should never allow any group, no matter how large or small, to silence us from speaking the capital-T truth, that Christ is king,” said Hegseth.
At the close of his speech, Hegseth saluted the crowd, who chanted back, ”Christ is king! Christ is king! Christ is king!”
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
