Hegseth tells Iowans that US troops 'deserve' $1.5T spending request

• Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is advocating for a $1.5 trillion defense budget amid the ongoing war with Iran.
• Hegseth appeared at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa, adding to speculation about Hegseth exploring a potential 2028 presidential run.
• Nunn’s Democratic challenger Sarah Trone Garriott criticized the event, stating leaders should focus on ending the war.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth lobbied for the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense funding request to Iowa Republicans as essential to protecting the U.S. and modernizing the nation’s military in a world he called increasingly “dangerous” amid the war with Iran.

“President Trump needs the type of leaders who understand why a $1.5 trillion budget, a one-time generational investment, is what is necessary to ensure that my kids and your kids, that your grandkids and my grandkids live in a free country defended by the most powerful military in the world,” Hegseth told the crowd.

Hegseth’s remarks came while he stumped “in a personal capacity” for U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn as the special guest for the Ankeny Republican’s recurring fundraiser at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Monday, Aug. 17.

The “Top Gun”-themed “Operation Top Nunn: Salute to the Troops” fundraiser is a mainstay of the military veteran’s reelection efforts.

The event, initially slated for March 14, was postponed after drawing criticism for its timing weeks after the U.S. went to war with Iran. Two Iowa servicemembers were among the first casualties in the conflict.

Hegseth’s visit to the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus state raised speculation that he could be among potential 2028 contenders for the White House after President Trump’s second term.

Speaking before a packed crowd at JR’s Southpork Ranch wearing red Nunn T-shirts and waving “Top Nunn” fans in the summer heat, Hegseth touted efforts to eliminate DEI in the military and said U.S. troops “deserve overwhelming firepower at every moment to devastatingly defeat our enemies.”

“That’s what they deserve,” Hegesth said of America’s troops. “That requires investment. That also requires votes and tough votes.”

Now in its fifth month, the conflict continues to escalate after the breakdown of a ceasefire.

Hegseth is advocating for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for the next fiscal year — a 42% increase over current funding levels — as war with Iran continues. He told Congress in July the cost of the war has reached $37.5 billion.

The request for increased funds comes after Republicans in Congress last year approved an additional $150 billion in Pentagon spending as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. 

There is a ‘cost’ to ‘ensure radical Islamist crazies don’t get a nuclear weapon,’ Pete Hegseth says

Nunn led the crowd in recognizing recently fallen Iowa soldiers, inviting the family of Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, onstage with him. He and Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, 29, of Marshalltown were killed in a Dec. 13 ambush by ISIS.

Maj. Jeffrey O'Brien, 45, of Waukee, and Sgt. Declan Coady of West Des Moines, a 20-year-old Army Reservist and Drake University sophomore, were two of the six servicemembers killed in the March 1 attack in Kuwait. Both were Nunn’s constituents.

And Robert Marzan, 54, who the Pentagon identified as being from Sacramento, California, was a longtime West Des Moines resident until 2023 and also died in the strike.

Hegseth recognized Veterans Day at the Iowa State Fair by thanking veterans at the event for their service and acknowledging the Iowa soldiers who died in the line of duty.

“What those Gold Star families have given resonates right here every single day,” Hegseth said, appearing to point at his heart. “… I’ll tell you this: every time I’m there, meeting those families, it actually pours into me — the faith and resolve, the commitment, the courage. These are all believers.”

He reminded the crowd the ISIS members behind the attack that claimed Torres-Tovar’s and Howard’s lives were killed and said he remembers the Kuwait attack “distinctly.”

“There is a cost to doing very difficult things, to going out and defending your country, ensuring radical Islamist crazies don’t get a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth said. “I’m not willing to look my kids in the eye and say we had a chance to do something about it, but we didn’t.”

Sarah Trone Garriott says leaders should ‘be focused on ending this war’

Nunn, of Ankeny, is seeking a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his 3rd District congressional seat representing south-central Iowa is among national Democrats’ top targets. He will face Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator from West Des Moines, on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Trone Garriott in a statement called it “disgraceful that Zach Nunn and Pete Hegseth are partying together at a campaign stop in Iowa while our service members are under threat and facing poor conditions overseas.”

“Our leaders should be focused on ending this war and keeping Americans deployed overseas safe, not fundraising for Zach Nunn's campaign,” she said. “This war has caused higher prices at the pump, higher costs at the grocery store, and skyrocketing diesel prices farmers cannot afford, and there's no end in sight because Zach Nunn keeps voting to continue it and Pete Hegseth has no plan to end it.”

Nunn defended Hegseth’s appearance while speaking to reporters before his fundraiser after his Des Moines Register Political Soapbox speech, pointing to efforts at the event to recognize Gold Star families, build a home for a double amputee and recognize military scholars.

“I think it’s absolutely appropriate just as I did in Dover (at the dignified transfer of fallen Iowa troops) and when I did when we helped bury them here to recognize and honor the families,” Nunn said. “Let’s never walk away from that. And I hope this doesn’t become a political issue.”

Hegseth called on Republicans to reelect Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve who completed three tours of duty in the Middle East, saying his victory was necessary give the U.S. military the resources it needs.

Hegseth framed Nunn as a Trump ally who understands the military and how Trump had to “rebuild” from the policies of Democratic Presidents Obama and Biden. He said it takes allies in Congress like Nunn to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon and back the administration’s this mission, “even though it’s a tough mission and we’ve lost Americans in the process.”

Kelley Koch, a GOP organizer from Dallas County who supports Nunn, said many of his supporters do not want to see boots on the ground in Iran, but she thinks there will be a plan to end the conflict soon.

She said her three Generation Z kids are asking questions about the increasingly protracted conflict as it drives up costs on gas and other items.

“I also thought that Iran would be more cooperative, and they have not been,” Koch said. “And so I’ve learned a lot that they’re not very much willing to come to the table. My kids are all complaining of higher gas prices, a little bit of inflation, but most people realize that I’d rather pay that than have a nuclear threat to our country and other neighboring allied countries.”

James Russell, 74, a Republican from Des Moines, attended the fundraiser and said he plans to vote for Nunn in November.

But he was critical of the Iran war’s objectives as Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a key figure in the administration’s Middle East diplomacy, travels to the Middle East for negotiations. Russell said he hopes to see the U.S. pull back from the conflict.

“I guess they’re down there trying to do another deal through Egypt right now, but we got to learn that that ain’t going to work,” Russell said. “These people don’t do that kind of stuff. You’re sitting across the table from people that would rather hit you in the mouth than they would do anything else.”

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.