It’s the kind of ‘shark attack’ that President Donald Trump, who famously hates sharks, can get behind.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he wants the U.S. Army to resume ‘shark attacks’ on soldiers going through basic training. 

A “shark attack” is an intense, aggressive verbal onslaught that drill instructors direct at new recruits, particularly during their initial days of basic training or boot camp.

It can involve a relentless barrage of shouting, criticism, and psychological pressure  used to test a recruit’s mindset.

Hegseth appeared on Fox News’ Will Cain Show Thursday afternoon and said under his leadership the U.S. military is going ‘back to basics.’

“A shark attack is when drill sergeants converge on a specific enlistee,” Hegseth explained. “This creates a stressful situation they must navigate and manage.”

The Army had been phasing out the shark attack method in recent years, as it’s been criticized as a form of hazing. 

Hegseth suggested that some stress should be expected when joining the military. 

‘Anyone who went through any form of basic training for decades understood is, as a recruit, you were going into a crucible,’ he told Cain. 

“You were going to be pushed, challenged, and feel scared, nervous, and anxious, but by overcoming that, you would emerge as an American warrior,” he continued.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is captured on the White House lawn Thursday appearing on Fox News’ Will Cain Show. Hegseth told Cain that the Army needs to get ‘back to basics,’ which means bringing back the practice of ‘shark attacks’ on enlistees 

A new recruit (center) is yelled at by two drill sergeants (left and right) in what is called a ‘shark attack,’ which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to bring back as he says the U.S. Army is getting ‘back to basics’ 

Hegseth also said ‘bed tossing’ or ‘tossing bays’ would make a reappearance. 

‘Bed tossing inside barracks after you’ve had a long day doing, you know, out on the range or walking patrol,’ the Pentagon chief said. 

The practice of trashing a recruit’s barracks and making them clean up the mess has also long been used as a part of basic training. 

Hegseth also noted that recruits wouldn’t receive heightened forms of hazing. 

‘This is not beyond what’s been done,’ he argued. ‘This is a restoration.’ 

The Defense Secretary argued that ‘if you start soft you end soft.’

‘If you aren’t strong from the beginning, you won’t finish and fight properly,’ he said. 

He said the process starts at basic training and at the U.S. military academies. 

A U.S. Army drill sergeant (right) yells in the face of a young servicemember (left) during a ‘shark attack’ in 2017. Shark attacks have been phased out in recent years, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is bringing them back despite hazing concerns 

‘We are going back to basics,’ Hegseth continued. ‘Drill sergeants will be drill sergeants with knife hands, who ensure – who maintain good order and discipline and train up great recruits who will make great formations, just like we need military officers with that same rigorous discipline and background.’ 

‘So we’re going back to basics and it’s bearing fruit,’ he said.  

When Trump came back into power in January, the president pledged to erase any efforts the military made to go ‘woke.’ 

The military has largely scrapped DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – efforts and Trump has reimplemented a ban on transgender troops. 

The Air Force said on Thursday that it would deny transgender servicemembers who have served between 15 and 18 years the chance to retire early and would instead would separate them from the military without retirement benefits.