Hegseth Brings the Pentagon Into the Manosphere By Diagnosing the Military’s Main Problem as Low Testosterone, Ordering Mandatory Screening for Troops Over 30
“Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics,” according to the old military saying. Incompetent internet-poisoned former TV talk show hosts, apparently, talk testosterone levels. In a video straight out of a manosphere fever dream, Pete Hegseth announced plans for a “High-T Department of War,” with mandatory testosterone screening for service members over the age of 30.
The Guardian reports:
The US defense secretary unveiled plans for a new screening program for testosterone deficiency among troops that will work to ensure service members have the “right testosterone levels” to perform at their optimal condition in a video posted to X.
“Warfighters” aged 30 and above will undergo annual tests as part of their health assessments, while those under 30 can choose to opt in, Hegseth said. Treatment, including testosterone replacement therapy, is voluntary and aimed at “restoring and optimizing” natural capabilities. … Testosterone, and concerns about a shortage thereof, has become a political fixation on the right. Alternative media commentators such as Tucker Carlson have decried a crisis of masculinity in films such as The End of Men, while influencers promote “T-maxxing” and direct-to-consumer testosterone injections.
No word from the “Department of War” on whether testosterone levels are responsible for the administration’s utter strategic incoherence in the ongoing war with Iran.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
© The UnPopulist, 2026
Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
 | A guest post by
|