The Department of Defense aired a new recruitment ad featuring voiceovers from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race on Sunday.
“No more distractions. No more electric tanks. No more gender confusion. No more climate change worship. We are laser-focused on our mission of war fighting,” Hegseth said in the opening of the advertisement, which featured troops in training and in action.
The president and defense secretary have described the projection of military power they wanted to exude as “peace through strength,” and the phrase was featured in the ad.
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“Through our power and might, we will lead the world to peace. Our friends will respect us, our enemies will fear us, and the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military,” Trump said in the video.
Hegseth attended the Coca-Cola 600 and served as the race’s grand marshal. The NASCAR weekend features several events targeting Gold Star families, including a luncheon, a special 600 Miles of Remembrance tribute, a military flyover, and more.
“It’s an honor to return to the Coca-Cola 600 as the historic event’s grand marshal,” Hegseth said. “I’ll never forget attending in 2022 — the overwhelming sense of patriotism, the unity of the crowd and the deep respect shown to our men and women in uniform. This event is a powerful tribute to those who serve and sacrifice for our freedoms. I’m proud to be part of such a strong American tradition that celebrates our military in such an impactful way.”
Trump made it a primary effort to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the federal government, including in the Department of Defense — a move that Hegseth has championed.
A task force ordered by Hegseth confirmed last week that the programs had been removed entirely from the Pentagon.
“The secretary’s guidance to eradicate DEI in the department was faithfully implemented across all of our many installations,” Tim Dill, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said. “Each of the services had already implemented the policies and certified completion to the task force. This was our leadership’s chance to go and validate the completion that had been reported to us.”
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Hegseth has repeatedly said, “DEI is dead at DoD,” and has called the phrase “diversity is our strength” the “single dumbest phrase in military history.”
Both Hegseth and Trump have credited the president for a boost in military recruitment that began prior to his 2024 electoral victory. While recruitment improved during the last year of the Biden administration, enlistment numbers have soared across multiple branches, as the Army, Air Force, and Marines have seen record numbers of applications in recent months.
