Hegseth Honors D-Day Allies at Normandy Ceremony, Warns of Migration 'Invasion' on European Beaches

U.S. cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 2026, during events marking the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. Hegseth also spoke at a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery.

“The men buried here fought in a war-fighting alliance, where every partner brought its full measure of industry, courage and sacrifice — not empty slogans, not lavish summits, not communiques — [but] real allies doing real things, taking real losses, for a shared cause worth fighting and dying for,” he said.

Hegseth linked the commemoration to current migration across the Mediterranean. “Sadly today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies.

In Spain, in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive,” he said. “When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late? ” Langrune en Commun, a civic group based in the French coastal village of Langrune-sur-Mer on Sword Beach, had demanded on June 2 that Hegseth not attend a ceremony it was hosting.

S. ” “The honor of Langrune, that of France, and the memory of the young Allies: Americans, British, Canadians — who died on our beaches in the name of democracy — demand that the visit of this individual be canceled,” the group stated.

Com reported that it was not clear why. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and retired Air Force brigadier general, said the focus of Hegseth’s address should have been on the troops who fought on the beaches.

Bacon also said the Trump administration is overly critical of Western Europe.