美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯坚称，尽管这场战争不得人心且面临弹劾呼声，他仍将完成对伊朗的战争。
Pete Hegseth insisted he would finish the war in Iran despite its unpopularity and calls for his impeachment.
周四晚间，赫格塞斯发布了一段时长五分钟的视频，指责民主党“痴迷”于针对他，并告诫美军士兵继续战斗。
In a five-minute video posted on Thursday evening, the US defence secretary accused Democrats of being “obsessed” with him and told American soldiers to keep fighting.
唐纳德·特朗普和JD·万斯均承认，这场战争在中期选举中发挥了重要作用，民主党夺取了国会控制权，将在未来两年限制政府权力。
Both Donald Trump and JD Vance admitted the war played a large part in the midterms, where Democrats seized control of Congress, inhibiting the administration’s power for the next two years.
赫格塞斯在五角大楼外录制的视频中说：“我们已将战争部恢复到其核心职能：我们在战斗。
In his video recorded outside the Pentagon, Mr Hegseth said: “We have restored the Department of War to its core function: we’re fighting.
“当我们说伊朗不会拥有核武器时，我们是认真的。在特朗普总统的领导下，我们将做艰苦的工作来确保这一点。”他补充称，“以实力求和平再次成为美国军事政策。”
“When we say that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, we actually mean it. And we will do the hard work to ensure it under the leadership of President Trump.”He added that “peace through strength is once again American military policy”.
共和党惨败的规模，使得民主党发起弹劾程序并调查五角大楼的前景增加。
The scale of the Republican defeat raises the prospect of Democrats launching impeachment proceedings and investigations into the Pentagon.
众议院民主党领袖、极有可能成为新任议长的哈基姆·杰弗里斯在一篇帖文中问道：“皮特·赫格塞斯为什么还留任？”但周四，特朗普坚称这位国防部长“干得非常出色”。
Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives and the likely new speaker, asked in a post: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”But on Thursday, Mr Trump insisted the defence secretary had “done a fantastic job”.
提到清洗军方将领，美国总统说：“我们有那么多将领。人人都是四星上将。我从未见过这样的事。其中许多人是‘觉醒派’。我不喜欢‘觉醒派’将领。所以，他大概率会遇到反对。”特朗普还赞扬了赫格塞斯在委内瑞拉和伊朗军事行动中的作用。“委内瑞拉的情况令人难以置信……而在伊朗，我们已在那里待了七个月，控制了我们想控制的一切，”他说。
Referring to the purge of military generals, the US president said: “We had so many generals. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general. And so, he probably has opposition.”Mr Trump also praised Mr Hegseth’s role in military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “Venezuela has been unbelievable... and in Iran, we are there for seven months and we control everything that we’ve wanted to control,” he said.
唐纳德·特朗普称国防部长“干得非常出色” 周三，副总统JD·万斯公开质疑伊朗战争是否值得，并称其导致共和党失去了国会控制权。
Donald Trump said the defence secretary had ‘done a fantastic job’ On Wednesday, JD Vance, the vice-president, publicly questioned whether the Iran war was worth it and said it cost Republicans control of Congress.
这些言论引发了关于特朗普先生是否仍可能推进恢复对伊朗大规模战斗行动的威胁的疑问。
The comments raised questions about whether Mr Trump might still go ahead with a threatened resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
一位特朗普顾问表示，由于伊朗战争，赫格塞斯先生“可能面临被解职的命运”。
One Trump adviser said Mr Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the Iran war.
但赫格塞斯先生坚称：“无论人们对这场战争有何感受，我认为这是一项勇敢且具有历史意义的努力，将确保伊朗永远无法获得核武器，我们需要继续，就像特朗普总统在其第一任期所做的那样，重建我们的军队。” 共和党众议员托马斯·马西曾承诺下周重新提交针对赫格塞斯先生的弹劾条款，警告称弹劾将“温和得多”，相比之下，一旦共和党在1月失去对国会的控制权，他将面临的局面会更糟。
But Mr Hegseth insisted: “Regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military.”Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, had promised to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Mr Hegseth next week, warning that impeachment would be “much gentler” than what’s in store for him once Republicans cede control of Congress in January.
在视频中，赫格塞斯先生表示：“这与我无关，但对方当然痴迷于此。
In his video, Mr Hegseth said: “This is not about me but of course the other side are obsessed.
“一位心怀不满、落选的众议员连同他所有的民主党盟友，向本人提交了虚假的弹劾条款。
“A disgruntled defeated congressman along with all his Democrat allies has dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly.
“这全都是人身毁谤的政治手段，这对特朗普总统不起作用，对我也不会奏效，”赫格塞斯先生补充道。
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction, it didn’t work against President Trump and it won’t work with me,” Mr Hegseth added.
“他们攻击我，攻击我们，是因为我们行之有效。” 尽管关于赫格塞斯先生前途的传言不断，《华盛顿邮报》周四报道称，斧头可能反而会落在参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军，或领导美国中央司令部并监督战争的布拉德·库珀上将身上。这位陷入困境的部长猛烈抨击所有反对他的人。
“They attack me, they attack us, because we are effective.”Despite rumours about Mr Hegseth’s future, The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the axe could instead fall on Gen Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, or Adml Brad Cooper, who leads US Central Command and has overseen the war. The embattled secretary railed against anyone who opposed him.
他说：“为什么民主党人和深层政府激进分子真正恨我们，因为我们一个接一个、毫不道歉地推翻了他们的圣牛。”
“Why do the Democrats and the deep state radicals really hate us, because we tore down their sacred cows one-by-one and without apology,” he said.
随后他声称：“跨性别身份是一种与军事服务不相容的精神疾病”，以及“我们的盟友应该分担负担，而不是成为负担本身”。
He then claimed that “being trans is a mental illness incompatible with military service” and “Our allies should share the burden, not be burdens themselves”.
此前曾对基督教民族主义表示同情的赫格塞斯先生还表示，我们“建国先贤的信仰应存在于我们的军队编制之中”。
Mr Hegseth, who has previously expressed sympathy for Christian nationalism, also said that the “faith of our founding fathers belongs inside our formations” in the military.