The Trump administration’s Department of War has put the previous administration’s social media strategy to shame with a more than 1000 percent increase in average post impressions and engagements, Breitbart News has learned from data exclusively obtained from the Pentagon.
Analytics from X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a steep contrast between former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and current War Secretary Pete Hegseth despite them posting about the same number of times.
From January 20 to September 18, 2024, Austin made 427 original posts, including replies and quote posts. During the same time period in 2025, Hegseth made 358 original posts. Including reposts, the secretaries made 473 and 506 total posts, respectively.
WATCH — Hegseth Honors Charlie Kirk Along with Soldiers, Law Enforcement, First Responders on 9/11:
That is where the similarities end. Austin had just over 971,000 total engagements — people liking, sharing, replying, or clicking links on posts — during that timeframe, while Hegseth garnered a staggering 10.6 million.
As for impressions, the number of times a post has been seen, Austin had 33.5 million, while Hegseth’s posts brought in 365 million in just nine months.
In 2025, the Department of War has seen 987 percent higher total engagements, 993 percent higher total impressions, 1,196 percent higher average post engagements, and 1,204 percent higher average post impressions compared to 2024, the data revealed.
The different numbers are significant on their own, but especially when noting that former President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign was underway and trying to drum up support on social media.
Out of Austin’s top five posts, two of them were about aid for Ukraine and one was sharing his deep gratitude for Biden’s “leadership and statesmanship” after he dropped out of the 2024 election:
That post was made just days after Biden appeared to forget Austin’s name, instead referring to him as “the black man” in an interview with BET:
Hegseth’s top posts include a call to prayer for Charlie Kirk after he was shot on September 10, announcing the renaming of Fort Bragg, and alerting the public that the National Guard would be deployed to Los Angeles amid violent riots:
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
