'Insecure' Pete Hegseth Mocked for Posting 'Pathetic' Workout Footage — 'You Don't Need to Video Everything You Do'
The Secretary of War is now getting dragged online after bragging about hitting the gym with a foreign dignitary.
Jan. 16 2026, Updated 3:43 p.m. ET
There’s no such thing as a rest day for Pete Hegseth, and the Secretary of War is now getting dragged online after bragging about hitting the gym with a foreign dignitary, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"No better way to start the morning than PT with the troops — and the Japanese Minister of Defense," Hegseth, 45, boasted in a post on X with a series of physical training photos of him and Shinjiro Koizumi doing medicine ball tosses, weighted sled drills, and more.
Staying Ripped
Pete Hegseth and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi did a grueling workout prior to their sit-down meeting.
The fitness-obsessed Hegseth has made a habit of showing off his grueling workouts, repeatedly flexing to prove that he can still sweat it out with the soldiers under his command.
The media was invited to the burn session between the former Fox News host and Koizumi, who were joined by soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment at Virginia's Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on Thursday, January 15.
Koizumi's visit later saw both men in suits and ties as they met with their teams to discuss how to "strengthen" the U.S.-Japan alliance "in every way possible."
But not before their joint workout started off the day.
'Are You This Insecure?'
Pete Hegseth did medicine ball workouts alongside members of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment.
While Hegseth's fans cheered on his lead-by-example approach to physical fitness, others asked why he's constantly showing his deep commitment to hitting the gym.
"Is your whole job just to work out now?" one person wondered in the comments.
"Why do you have to have cameras? Are you this insecure? You're doing a big boy job now, grow up," a second user sneered, while a third wrote, "You're so beyond pathetic. Laughable."
A fourth person called him "Photo op Pete," but a fifth person raved, "Nice to have a Secretary of War that can live up to the fitness standards of our troops."
'Fat Troops' Are a 'Bad Look'
Pete Hegseth put forth a strict new policy that includes no more 'fat troops.'
Hegseth made it clear that he wants only physically fit, ready-to-fight troops while saying he will lead the way in a controversial speech in September 2025. proclaiming he doesn't want any "fat troops," or military commanders who are also overweight.
"It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force," the Minnesota native declared.
"Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are," Hegseth scoffed.
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'Real Hard PT' Required and 'No Hot Yoga'
Pete Hegseth made it clear that military physical training is hardcore stuff and not 'hot yoga and stretching.'
During the same speech, Hegseth said he expects everyone from a "brand new private to a four-star general" to meet height and weight requirements and pass a PT test at least twice a year.
The War Secretary also laid out daily requirements that meet up with his ethos, requiring, at his direction, "every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we're codifying it."
Hegseth made the tough new physical training clear by adding, "And we're not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT," either individually or as a group.
