ScreenshotSecretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the Department of War has formally designated Confucius Institutes as a threat to U.S. national security.In a video posted to his official X account, Hegseth detailed how Chinese Communist Party-backed operations that Congress restricted years ago had simply rebranded and continued operating on American campuses.Hegseth drew a direct parallel to the DEI bureaucracy the War Department has been dismantling.“When I took office, one thing we knew was that the cancer of DEI, it was going to be difficult to kill here in the Department of War. You see, instead of complying, promoters of this ideology just tried to rebrand it and thought they would be safe,” he said. “Now, today, in a similar example, I want to tell you about Confucius Institutes.”He continued: “These Chinese government-backed propaganda cultural programs had infiltrated our nation’s universities in almost every state. Now, thankfully, Congress banned them a few years ago, these Confucius Institutes but they came back disguised in new forms just like DEI does. Just call it a different name. Well, the Department of War has taken action to stop this as well. We added these sleeper organizations to our list of institutions that threaten our national security.”Hegseth stated that investigators uncovered “80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities” operating under different names and charters but with the same mission “to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students.”Over the past two months, the War Department “systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations” using its funding and contracting leverage.“Let this be a lesson to any country trying to steal our hard earned inventions or turn our young people against their own country. We’re done with that. No more and no again,” he said.WATCH:The War Department has designated Confucius Institutes as a threat to our national security. https://t.co/bvMTUBwGei— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 23, 2026The latest development follows an August 17 announcement from the Department of War ordering 30 American academic institutions to conduct comprehensive reviews of their relationships with foreign entities of concern.The Pentagon specifically targeted collaborations involving organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes and foreign institutions identified under federal national security provisions.According to the official War Department announcement, the investigation was intended to protect American taxpayer-funded research from unauthorized technology transfers, intellectual property theft, and exploitation by foreign adversaries.Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael delivered a warning to universities maintaining potentially dangerous relationships with foreign entities.“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” Michael declared.By October 19, the Pentagon reported that all 30 universities had addressed the foreign relationships identified through the review.The department said the investigations resulted in more than 80 termination-related actions, including the cancellation of partnerships and other measures.Among the universities publicly recognized for taking additional action were Penn State, Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Southern California.Hegseth’s action closes a loophole that previous restrictions left open: once the original Confucius Institute brand became radioactive, the same Chinese government-linked entities simply adopted new names, charters, and organizational structures while pursuing the identical goals of IP theft and ideological influence on American students. By placing the rebranded entities on the War Department’s national security threat list and cutting off funding pathways, the department has removed the financial oxygen that allowed them to persist.The post Trump’s War Department Declares Chinese Communist Party-Backed Confucius Institutes a NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT — Hegseth Says 80 Chinese Propaganda Operations at 30 US Universities Have Been Dismantled appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.