BATH — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walked out on a stage at Bath Iron Works on Monday with a fist pump and told gathered workers “nobody builds it better than you guys.”

It drew applause, whooping and cheering that returned numerous times during the nearly 30-minute speech before about 1,000 hard-hat-wearing BIW employees standing inside a production room. President Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief seemed to relish the appreciative audience, shifting from shipbuilding remarks to criticizing diversity initiatives and touting controversial overseas actions.

“You guys just made my day,” he said. “We’re going to have to get President Trump out here sometime.”

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Hegseth visited with BIW officials and toured the Navy shipbuilder located on the Kennebec River as part of what he has called “the Arsenal of Freedom” tour.

His visit to Maine came less than two months after shipyard officials said in December that they are ready and willing to help design and contribute to building what Trump called a “Golden Fleet,” saying it would be “the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.”

“What you’re building here in Bath is essential to the arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth said Monday. “And nobody builds it better than you guys.”

Hegseth’s appearance came amid a backdrop of broader military and foreign policy issues that have drawn plenty of attention, such as Trump’s plans for Venezuela after a U.S. military operation last month captured its former leader, Nicolas Maduro, or Trump’s aspirations to acquire Greenland.

Hegseth bragged to BIW workers about the operation to take Maduro out of Venezuela.

“Going down in history,” a worker shouted, to which Hegseth asked him to repeat that.

Before turning back to shipbuilding, Hegseth also touted the administration’s strikes of alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, saying the U.S. recently struck another boat.

“We haven’t been sinking as many boats recently because we can’t find as many to sink,” he said. “That’s the whole point.”

Prior to his arrival, protesters gathered on the nearby Sagadahoc Bridge. By 12:30 p.m., dozens of people had assembled at the intersection near the Bath post office and the base of the bridge carrying signs that read, “Fire Hegseth” and “Maine doesn’t welcome war criminals.”

The crowd of anti-Trump administration protesters grew to about 300-400 people by the time Hegseth arrived for his 2 p.m. visit, Bath Police Chief Andrew Booth estimated.

About a dozen Trump supporters showed up, too, and waved American flags in support.

“I think (the Trump administration is) doing what’s right for our country and protecting our homeland,” Kellie Teel, of Brunswick, said. “I think having ICE go through and take out the illegal aliens is the right thing to do.”

After urging “speed” to get ships to the military and describing efforts to improve resources for troops, Hegseth also railed against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which he has moved to end while leading the Pentagon.

“No more dudes in dresses,” he said to more cheers from the room of BIW workers.

“We’re done with, ‘Our diversity is our strength,’ which is the single dumbest phrase in military history,” he added, repeating a criticism he made last week during a speech to Pentagon staff.

A website for the “Golden Fleet” is currently “under construction” but previously described the “guided missile battleship” as weighing around 35,000 tons and having smaller crews than the Iowa-class battleships, with 650-850 sailors.

Hegseth, 45, a former Fox News host and Army National Guard member, narrowly won confirmation as Trump’s defense secretary last year after facing criticism for past allegations of sexual assault , heavy drinking and for saying women should not serve in combat roles.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the lone Republicans to oppose Hegseth’s nomination in January 2025. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, also opposed Hegseth’s nomination.

Hegseth expressed support during Monday’s speech for BIW employees to receive more pay for what they do. Workers in the audience included those who clocked in early Monday morning and stayed to listen to Hegseth start around 2:30 p.m.

Jeffrey Sholes, 39, an electrician who has been with the company for five years, said in an interview he appreciated the pay comment and felt Hegseth “touched on many of the concerns and hurdles we struggle with.”

Amid a shift change around 3:30 p.m., Marshall Libby, an HVAC technician, told a reporter that Hegseth’s speech was “all campaign rhetoric, a bunch of lies.”

“Mostly it was, ‘Bath built is best built,’ which everybody spouts,’ Libby said. “It was mostly a rah, rah, rah speech.”

Still, Libby said most workers seemed receptive to Hegseth’s speech. “Anybody can fire the crowd up,” he said. “That’s easy to do, as long as you’re a good politician.”

Before concluding his speech and receiving a BIW sweatshirt and hat to wear, Hegseth described going to Rhode Island earlier Monday to tour defense manufacturing facilities and swear in military recruits.

“They literally can’t win the next fight without you,” he said of the recruits, adding that “if the 21st century isn’t an American century, then it isn’t a free century.”

Staff Writer Rachel Ohm contributed to this report.