What to Know
He might be the United States secretary of Defense, but Pete Hegseth isn’t fooling anyone with his form when he works out. According to some users on social media, his technique is not really giving “Department of War,” and someone posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) for the sole purpose of trolling Donald Trump’s cabinet member.
For all of those who readily troll Hegseth and poke fun at him almost as much as the writers on Saturday Night Live, there are plenty of people who want to spring to his defense when the time comes. According to them in the comments under that X post, there is plenty about the secretary of defense (or secretary of war, depending on who you ask) to be impressed by.
Someone joked that Pete Hegseth is “tiptoeing.”
This is our Secretary of a War, Pete Hegseth.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 30, 2026
No wonder why we appear to suck at war. pic.twitter.com/qHEoptcnpK
In late May 2026, Hegseth worked out with soldiers on the USS Boxer ship. He then posted the video to social media and even included his wife in the exercise routines. But there were plenty of other users on X who were not too impressed with his prancing around and his particular form while running around on the ship deck.
Someone posted on X that Hegseth was doing the “Pete ‘Prancersize’ Hegseth working out hard.”
The original post on X that poked fun at Hegseth shared the video and wrote, “This is our secretary of war, Pete Hegseth. No wonder why we appear to suck at war.”
A user commented on the post with, “Intensive ballet training for his performance at the forthcoming 250 years’ commemoration. It will replace the cancelled singers!”
“Did someone tell him he was playing the Sugar Plum Fairy in the military version of The Nutcracker?” Another user commented. “What’s happening in this video?”
Others called his “war” t-shirt “cringe.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has drawn attention ahead of key regional security talks. He was seen jogging and exercising with troops while wearing a t-shirt reading “THIS IS WAR.” pic.twitter.com/mZQKXbAOqd
— Lazzyyyyyy (@em_Lazzy) May 31, 2026
Hegseth might genuinely know more than a lot of people about physical fitness. Or, at the very least, he is well-versed in warm-ups and workouts that the average person might see as silly looking. But Hegseth’s haters don’t really want to give him credit where any credit is due. They’d much rather make fun of the way he looks in the now viral videos and hope to get under his skin if he sees their posts. Trolling on social media is the American way now, after all.
“HORRIBLE form in the press-ups,” someone wrote on Reddit. “Also that t-shirt is so f–king cringe. It’s pure ‘Murica!”
Another user wrote, “I was coming to say, he’s probably hungover, if not outright drunk. I could also say, I guess we’re lucky he’s still standing, but that’s not true. We’d be better off if he was passed out’ he’s relatively harmless in that state.”
No one really thinks he is an alpha.
If Hegseth thinks he’s an alpha, is anyone really surprised? If Hegseth actually uses the word “alpha” to describe anyone, again, no one would be surprised. But those who prefer not to fall in line with him definitely don’t see him as an alpha in any way.
“Weird trying to look alpha with Trump’s b–ls in his mouth,” a Redditor commented on the post.
Someone agreed and wrote, “Propaganda, looks how this strong man is leading the troops (but he will never go to combat).
And then there are those who are just incredibly unimpressed with Hegseth’s athletic prowess in general.
“Does he think he’s special for this? Plenty of us got up today and went to Orange Theory or CrossFit or whatever and worked out,” a user wrote. “Outdoors on the wet pavement? Looks like a risk for a slip and fall injury.”
READ NEXT: People Have Lots Of Questions About Pete Hegseth’s Lavish Spending Habits
