MIAMI — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth traveled to Florida on Thursday for meetings with senior military leaders about two priority issues for the Trump administration — the ongoing conflict in Iran and narcotics trafficking.
Mr. Hegseth will be hosting the Americas Counter Cartel Conference at U.S. Southern Command headquarters in the Miami area. Pentagon officials said he will be meeting with Latin American officials to compare strategies for combating the international drug trade
Following the conference at Southern Command, Mr. Hegseth will fly to Tampa, where U.S. Central Command is based. Adm. Brad Cooper, who is the overall commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, will update him on Operation Epic Fury.
The first four days of the mission included more than 2,000 strikes with over 2,000 precision munitions launched from the air, land and sea. Pentagon officials said the U.S. has decimated Iran’s ballistic missile capability and the bulk of its navy.
The U.S. is expected to have complete air superiority over Iran in days, officials said.
