Pete Hegseth Turns Franklin the Turtle Into a MAGA Hero in a Bizarre Social Media Post
Pete Hegseth probably didn't know that Franklin the Turtle is Canadian.
Published Dec. 2 2025, 10:24 a.m. ET
Once again, President Donald Trump's second administration has proven that it is truly a culture of unoriginal memes. From referencing Top Gun in an unhinged video where an AI version of the president drops feces on No Kings protestors, to a ripoff of the Stranger Things opening, these folks seem to really love their internet content.
The official social media accounts for the White House and President Trump are not the only bad players in these hack games. Several of Trump's cronies have also dipped their toes into the not-quite-so-funny waters. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth thought he would make light of the numerous drone strikes on Venezuelan boats by using beloved Canadian children's book character Franklin the Turtle. Pete, he's not even an American. Keep reading for more details.
Pete Hegseth used Franklin the Turtle to demonstrate his callousness.
When Pete isn't busy recording videos of himself doing pull-ups in the wrong way, he's attempting humor on X (formerly Twitter). On the evening of Nov. 30, 2025, when most folks were winding down after Thanksgiving weekend, Pete was busy in the meme tunnels mining for content. Before we get into the alleged comedy, let's explain what it is referencing.
In the wake of a string of questionable drone strikes on Venezuelan boats, all under the guise of stopping drug smugglers from entering the United States, Pete has faced some backlash. According to The Washington Post, in early September 2025, Pete allegedly gave an order to strike a boat a second time, killing all the survivors. The White House has since denied that the Secretary of War gave that order.
That brings us back to Pete's distasteful joke. He shared his own version of a Franklin the Turtle book in which the sweet turtle is in a helicopter, firing a bazooka at several boats. There are two American flag patches on Franklin who, again, is a Canadian character. The so-called children's book is titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists. As you can imagine, the publishers of the Franklin series were not happy.
The folks who publish the Franklin the Turtle books condemn violence of any kind.
In their own post to X, the publishers of the Franklin the Turtle books shared a statement in response to Pete's meme. "Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity," wrote Kids Can Press. "We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin's name or image, which directly contradicts these values."
The people behind Kids Can Press weren't the only folks who didn't react favorably to Pete's light handling of his own alleged war crimes. Several people responded rather strongly to his post. It's hard to pick out a fave, but if pressed to choose, we'd go with this one from @SundaeDevine: "God ruined a perfectly good a--hole when he put teeth in your mouth." Now that's what we call comedy.