Hegseth – who traveled to the Navy installation with no pooled press, instead bringing former Fox News colleague Laura Ingraham – toured detention facilities and spoke with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as well as Marines running the base’s Migrant Operations Center, according to videos and images posted to the Pentagon chief’s official X account.
The Pentagon provided few other details of the trip, but social media posts revealed that Hegseth arrived at Guantánamo shortly before a cargo plane carrying migrants landed at the installation. In a video of Hegseth and Ingraham speaking with a two-star Army general, the plane can be seen in the background.
“I was able to witness a grey-tail arrival of illegal aliens at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay,” Hegseth said in the post to X.
He also posted a photo of himself having lunch with members of the Joint Task Force Southern Guard, made up of ICE agents and service members who staff the operation.
“These warriors are directly supporting the apprehension and deportation of dangerous illegal aliens,” Hegseth wrote. “We cannot thank them or their families enough.”
President Trump last month ordered the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to set up the naval base to house migrants before they are deported to their home countries.