VICTORY AT THE BORDER: ‘THE DETERRENT EFFECT IS THERE’: Before heading to the U.S.-Mexico border with Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was already declaring victory in sealing the border against what President Donald Trump has characterized as an invasion of America by “inadmissible and removable aliens.”

“President Trump gave us a charge: 100% operational control of the Southern border. Border security is national security,” Hegseth said in an appearance on Fox and Friends. “Over 20 million people … poured in across our open-border policy, which created recklessness, death, drugs for our communities. We’re sending those folks home and we’re not letting more in, and you’re seeing that right now.”