Secretary of Defense Hegseth invokes immigration and ‘invasion’ in D-Day speech in France

Kevin R. Johnson

07 Jun 2026 — 1 min read

The anniversary of D-Day has attracted much attention and was marked by the release of the movie Pressure, which recounted the tense countdown to the Allies landing in France in 1944.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech yesterday to link immigration to the WWII effort to liberate Europe:

"Hegseth, speaking in France during commemorations for the 82nd anniversary of the June 6, 1944, landings, said that today, `different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies.'

Hegseth did not use the word immigration, but his remarks echoed broader Trump administration criticism of Europe over migration, borders and what U.S. officials have described as censorship of nationalist and far-right voices."

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