U.S. Defense Secretary Pete\u00a0Hegseth made an appearance in Aggieland on Saturday, and he received a much warmer welcome than Sen. Ted Cruz got in Austin last weekend.<\/p>\n
Hegseth traveled to College Station for No. 9 Texas A&M\u2019s home football game against Kentucky<\/a>.\u00a0During an appearance before kickoff, the crowd at Kyle Field cheered Hegseth, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Gov. Greg Abbott, who accompanied him. Rollins is a 1994 Texas A&M alumna.<\/p>\n Hegseth\u00a0was seen on the sidelines saluting the American flag during the national anthem. Clad in a maroon polo, he also shook hands and took selfies with a raucous Texas A&M Corps of Cadets before the game.<\/p>\n Earlier Saturday, Hegseth, who calls himself Secretary of War, trained with the Corps by running up and down the stadium steps. He later addressed cadets on what he said was the first stop of his \u201cSend Me Tour,\u201d an effort to connect with military members, university ROTC cadets and veterans across the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cOver 250 years of this country, there have been men and women who raised\u00a0their right hand and said, \u2018send me,\u2019\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have Texans like these out there on the front lines, we don\u2019t have a republic, so we need the nation to raise their right hand and say \u2018send me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n .@SECWAR<\/a> “This is our first stop on what we are calling the SEND ME TOUR.<\/p>\n If you know your Book of Isaiah, Chapter 6, Verse 8, the Lord said, ‘Whom shall I send?’ Isaiah says, ‘Lord, I AM HERE. SEND ME…’<\/p>\n For 250 years of this country, there have been men and women who RAISED\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/inmpL5Dm6D<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) September 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The secretary traveled to College Station on Friday to tour the Veterans Resource Center. He was in\u00a0Austin earlier Friday<\/a> to speak at\u00a0Saronic Technologies Inc., a critical commercial partner for the U.S. military that builds autonomous warships.<\/p>\n Hegseth\u2019s Texas trip comes days after the U.S. House of Representatives postponed a vote on articles of impeachment over his handling of the war with Iran until after the November elections.<\/p>\n Before the Texas Longhorns game against Ohio State on Sept. 12, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz appeared on ESPN\u2019s \u201cCollege GameDay<\/a>\u201d near the stadium and was met with chants of \u201cTed, you suck. Ted, you suck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n