FACT CHECK: No, Pete Hegseth Didn’t Say It Would Take Seven Years To Build The Ships To Confront Russia

A post shared on X claims Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that it would take seven years to build the necessary ships to confront Russia.

Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary, just announced in Brussels at a press conference that the U.S. isn’t prepared to face Russia, particularly at sea. He claims it would take over seven years to build the necessary ships. What the actual fuck is he doing, broadcasting our…

— P a u l ◉ (@SkylineReport) February 13, 2025

Verdict: False

Hegeseth said that the U.S. should increase its shipbuilding pace and lower procurement from seven years to three years. He did not say that the U.S. was not prepared to face Russia, especially at sea.

Fact Check:

Hegseth visited Europe, where he said that the U.S.’s greatest security priority does not lie in Europe but on the southern border and the American homeland, according to The Associated Press.

Social media users are claiming that when Hegseth was in Brussels, he said that the U.S. could not take on the Russian military.

This claim is false. No media outlets have covered these alleged remarks. A Pentagon spokesperson directed Check Your Fact to the transcript of the Feb. 13 Brussels press conference.

Nowhere did he say that the U.S. was not prepared to take on Russia, especially at sea. Instead, Hegseth was commenting on the need for shipbuilding and to decrease the time to fulfill foreign military sales. (RELATED: Did Trump Sign An Executive Order Stopping All New Funds To The UNRWA?)

Hegseth said:

“So deep and dramatic reforms are coming at the Defense Department with the leadership of President Trump to ensure that we’re investing robustly in our defense industrial base. A great example is shipbuilding. We need to vastly increase our ability to build ships and submarines, not just for ourselves, but to honor our obligations to our allies as well.

And we will do that. Foreign military sales is another thing I mentioned this morning with the secretary general. We have for a long time been the country by with and through that our allies are able to supply major platforms and weapon systems like the F-35 and the Patriots and others. Whatever the system is, we need to reform that process so it’s quicker, so a request today isn’t delivered seven years from now, but three years from now with less red tape and with the most efficient and effective technology possible.

We hear that from our allies, and that’s part of being a good faith partner is we’re going to invest in our defense industrial base. We’re going to make sure foreign military sales are as rapid as possible, which again is a force multiplier for American power, which is something we want to do in a contested world.”

The Russian Navy has sustained several losses in its war against Ukraine, with over 20 vessels being destroyed or disabled as of March 2024, according to CNN. Russia has a sizable fleet but is dwarfed by the U.S. Navy in tonnage, per Global FirePower.