The U.S. Department of Defense has designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centers on university campuses, as a threat to U.S. national security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the move on Friday, stating that these organizations had operated in disguise after congressional restrictions, using different names and charters but with the same mission to steal intellectual property and infiltrate American students' minds. Hegseth added that the Pentagon has systematically dismantled 80 such “propaganda cells” across 30 universities over the past two months.