Pete Hegseth

And, you know, go up to Trump Tower, up the elevator, sit with him, talk about it.

And ultimately, I think he thought I was a little young and all that.

But I remember he called me at one point in the process, and he said, Pete, I want to pick you.

I want to pick you, but there's one problem.

Why do all the veterans groups hate you?

And he sort of, I sort of laughed and he goes, no, but like, they hate you.

And I'm like, well, Mr. President, let me tell you why.

Because outside the box thinking of say providing private choice for veterans is a threat, complete threat to the ecosystem around the government bureaucracy and the VA and the veterans groups.

They exist to defend their territory.

And they'll say, oh, it's for the betterment of the vets.

Well, if vets are getting better treatment from nonconventional places, why aren't we exploring that?

Well, the bureaucracy can't handle that.

Well, it's not the existing system.

It's not where most of the money comes from.

It doesn't support the bricks and mortar facilities that they want to keep

the importance becomes keeping the facilities as opposed to what is the treatment that the vets are getting.

So I had plenty of, I know I had overwhelming support from veterans across the country who were thankful that, who believed that Veterans Choice would unshackle them from driving 400 miles for a basic treatment when they could get it 10 miles from their house and the government pays for it.

Or the idea that if you're abusing a vet, a VA official should be fired.

So the solutions are simple.

It's choice and accountability.