Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a viral fitness challenge Monday, competing in what they dubbed the “Pete and Bobby Challenge” to promote the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Fox News star Will Cain and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy quickly responded and accepted the challenge.
The “Pete and Bobby Challenge” requires participants to complete 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups, with the goal of finishing in under five minutes. Kennedy and Hegseth squared off at the Department of Defense surrounded by Navy and Marine personnel to demonstrate the competition.
“We had our big Pete and Bobby challenge today, 50 pull ups. 100 push-ups. You try to get under five minutes,” Kennedy said while wearing his typical gym attire of jeans and a T-shirt.
Hegseth finished the challenge in approximately 5 minutes and 25 seconds, defeating Kennedy, who is 71 years old. “We got close. I was about 5:25,” Hegseth said in video footage. “You were right behind me,” he added.
Several Marines present during the challenge outperformed both cabinet secretaries, with some completing the workout in under four minutes and one finishing in under three minutes.
The fitness competition comes as Kennedy promotes Americans eating whole foods versus processed meals and Hegseth works to improve military fitness standards. Hegseth recently posted on X in response to reports that two-thirds of the military is overweight, writing “Completely unacceptable. This is what happens when standards are IGNORED — and this is what we are changing. REAL fitness & weight standards are here. We will be FIT, not FAT.”
“It was President Trump who inspired us to do this,” Kennedy said in the video. “This is the beginning of our tour, challenging Americans to get back in shape, eat better, but also, you need to get out and exercise.”
President Trump set the example by putting forth efforts to make America healthy again.
That’s why we are introducing the Pete and Bobby challenge.
100 push-ups. 50 pull-ups. 10 minutes. pic.twitter.com/ppRrwqSUm0
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) August 18, 2025
The two secretaries immediately challenged Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to join the competition.
“Secretary Duffy, you’re invited to do the Pete and Bobby challenge. Can you do it in under five minutes? 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups. What do you think?” Hegseth asked in the video.
Duffy quickly accepted the challenge, along with Fox News host Will Cain. The pair filmed their workout attempt in Dallas, Texas, with Duffy posting footage on X accompanied by Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”
Both Duffy and Cain shared videos of their dual workout, building anticipation for the results to be revealed on Cain’s Fox News show at 4 PM ET. The challenge description notes that while participants have up to 10 minutes to complete the workout, five minutes is considered “the top standard.”
Take a look —
The “Pete and Bobby Challenge” with @SecDuffy.
50 pull-ups
100 pushups
Time: 5:12@PeteHegseth @SecDef @SecKennedy
pic.twitter.com/JW4IlUbgWG— Will Cain (@willcain) August 20, 2025
The fitness challenge represents a broader Trump administration initiative to improve American health and military readiness.
President Donald Trump has championed Kennedy’s efforts encouraging Americans to cut processed foods and get active through the MAHA movement, while repeatedly praising the U.S. military as “without a doubt the greatest fighting force in the history of the world” under Hegseth’s leadership.
At the youth level, Trump reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition for American schoolchildren after former President Barack Obama retired it.
Trump signed an executive order in July reestablishing the program and directed the council to launch “school-based programs that reward excellence in physical education and develop criteria for a Presidential Fitness Award.”
“Thank you, President Trump, for setting the example. Presidential physical fitness. Make America Healthy Again. Fit, not fat. We’re going to have a war-fighting force, young men and women who are prepared to defend the nation. We’re doing it as a team. Join us,” Hegseth said in the video.