Pete Hegseth Criticized for Body-Shaming Canadian Cadets
A social media post by Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defense, body-shaming female members of a Canadian youth development program remained online on Wednesday despite a furious backlash on both sides of the border.
On Monday night, Hegseth posted on X a photograph of two people in uniform with a Canadian flag and the caption “this is real”, an apparent attempt at mocking the country’s armed forces amid the Trump administration’s trade spat with its northern neighbor.
However, the photograph was reproduced from an Instagram post by the Vernon Cadet Training Centre in British Columbia, which hosted a summer camp in July for teenagers learning adult skills on the military base.
🇨🇦 (this is real) pic.twitter.com/Ucx2FNdi1q
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) September 1, 2026
Its subjects are not members of Canada’s frontline military, and the person whose appearance Hegseth was attempting to ridicule is likely a volunteer instructor, critics said. The girl receiving a medal is a teenager no older than 18.
The post, widely seen as part of a Trump administration “bullying campaign” over the trade war, was immediately condemned by officials in Canada and in the US. Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, called it “beneath the office” of the secretary of defense. (Read more from “Pete Hegseth Criticized for Body-Shaming Canadian Cadets” HERE)
