Donald Trump has raised eyebrows by nominating a 44-year-old Fox News host with no government experience to become his Secretary of Defense – putting him in charge of the world’s largest military and a $800 billion budget.
The appointment of ‘anti-woke’ firebrand Pete Hegseth drew swift condemnation from Trump’s opponents in Washington, with one veterans’ advocate branding him ‘undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for Defense Secretary in history’.
While some Republican lawmakers had a muted response to the announcement, others pointed to his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a captain in the Army National Guard and won two Bronze Stars.
Hegseth co-hosts Fox & Friends Weekend after joining the network as a contributor in 2014 following an unsuccessful Senate run in Minnesota. He is said to have become friends with Trump during the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show.
Trump said yesterday: ‘With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down. Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ”Peace through Strength” policy.’
The appointment of ‘anti-woke’ firebrand Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense drew swift condemnation from many in Washington
Hegseth is married to television producer Jennifer Cunningham Rauchet, with the pair tying the knot back in 2019
Hegseth and Ms Rauchet promoting his book alongside Trump at the president-elect’s Bedminster golf course
Hegseth’s appointment is a snub to former Democrat Congresswoman and Trump ally Tulsi Gabbard, who had said just hours before that she wanted the job.
It follows a string of heavily-scrutinized Trump appointments, including former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security, John Ratcliffe as CIA director, Mike Waltz as national security adviser and senior Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles as chief of staff.
But by far the most attention has gone to the tapping of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to oversee a new Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with ‘dismantling’ the $6.5 trillion federal government.
Alongside his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth served overseas in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.
He has tattoos on his body including crosses as well as the Latin phrases ‘Deus vult’, meaning ‘God wills it’, and ‘Ne desut virtus’, which translates as ‘Let valour not fail’.
The slogan ‘Deus vult’ is said to have originated in the 11th century as a rallying call for Catholics during the First Crusade.
Hegseth has previously said: ‘I’ve got Deus Vult – God Wills It – which was the cry of the Crusaders, on my bicep.
‘My entire pec is a Jerusalem cross. Israel, Christianity, and my faith are things I care deeply about.’
His appointment could bring sweeping changes to the military, with the TV host passionately opposed to ‘woke‘ diversity programmes and the role of women in combat. He has also backed pardoning service members charged with war crimes.
It will also add to Democrat fears Trump will use his powers as commander-in-chief to carry out a purge of generals, given Hegseth has previously demanded the sacking of top military leaders – including Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown.
‘First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,’ Hegseth told a podcast. ‘Any general that was involved, any general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI/woke s**t has got to go.’
On a recent appearance on Fox News, Hegseth made it clear that he felt Joe Biden’s White House – run by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin – was run by ‘pro-Palestinian millennials.’
‘What Israel is about to do is bring Hell down on Hamas. Israel is about to do real war. Israel will be stacking bodies because Netanyahu isn’t messing around,’ he said.
If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth will inherit the top job during a series of global crises – ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East to escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.
Critics of his appointment have pointed to his lack of experience in high office.
‘Hegseth is undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for SecDef in American history. And the most overtly political. Brace yourself, America,’ Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Independent Veterans of America, wrote on X last night.
Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters that he ‘did not know who Pete Hegseth was until about 20 minutes ago’.
‘The job of Secretary of Defense should not be an entry-level position,’ he added on X.
The tattoed veteran co-hosts Fox & Friends Weekend
Supporters pointed to his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan , where he served as a captain in the Army National Guard and won two Bronze Stars
A photo Hegseth shared on his action-packed Instagram
Among Hegseth’s tattoos is the Latin phrase ‘Ne desit virtus’, meaning ‘Let valour not fail’
He also has crosses tattooed on his torso and on his right arm the words ‘Deus vult’, which translates as ‘God wills it’
Others were less polite, with one defense industry lobbyist asking Politico: ‘Who the f**k is this guy?’
Hegseth is the author of ‘The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free’, which bills itself as ‘the key to saving our warriors – and winning future wars.’
In June, at a rally in Las Vegas, Trump encouraged his supporters to buy the book after vowing that if he won: ‘The woke stuff will be gone within a period of 24 hours. I can tell you.’
A staunch conservative who embraces Trump’s ‘America First’ policies, Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal, claiming that allowing women to serve in combat hurts that effort.
‘Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse,’ he told podcast host Shawn Ryan.
And while he said diversity in the military is a strength, he said it was because minority and white men ‘can perform similarly’ but the same isn’t true for women.
Hegseth has also served in the National Guard Unit in Washington DC, where he claimed he was prevented from guarding Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 as he was deemed to be an ‘extremist’ for his tattoo.
He told the Shawn Ryan Show podcast: ‘The Jerusalem cross tattoo, which is just a Christian symbol, is what got me disinvited. My commander called me a day before tepidly and was like ‘major you can stand down, we don’t need you’.’
Hegseth claimed someone ‘trolled’ his social media, found the tattoo and ‘used it as an excuse’ to label him a ‘white nationalist and extremist’. This meant he was revoked from guarding the inauguration because he was ‘considered a potential threat’.
Hegseth is a staunch conservative who embraces Trump’s ‘America First’ policies
Alongside his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth served overseas in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Another of Hegseth’s tattoos is the phrase ‘Deus vult’ on his right bicep. The phrase which translates to ‘God wills it’ in Latin, is associated with the Crusades in the 11th century and was supposedly used as a rallying cry by Catholics.
‘I’ve got Deus Vult – God Wills It – which was the cry of the Crusaders, on my bicep… My entire pec is a Jerusalem cross. Israel, Christianity, and my faith are things I care deeply about,’ he told The Big Lead in 2020.
Hegseth added he has been fond of tattoos since an early age and got his first one during a family holiday. Another of his inks also include a cross with a sword through it on his forearm.
It represents the Bible verse Matthew 10:34, which says: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’
Hegseth is married to television producer Jennifer Cunningham Rauchet, with the pair tying the knot back in 2019.
Hegseth has two previous marriages, having been married to Meredith Schwarz between 2004 and 2009 before going on to marry Samantha Deering.
However, after seven years of marriage, the pair divorced one another in 2017, but do have three children from their time together, named Gunner, Bonne, and Rex.
Following an extramarital relationship with Rauchet while he was married to Deering, Hegseth welcomed a daughter with the former, who was born in August 2017.
Along with having a child of their own together, Hegseth is a father to Rauchet’s three children from her first marriage: Kenzie, Jackson and Luke.
Hegseth appearing on Fox & Friends alongside Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade in 2019
Hegseth’s nomination is further evidence of Trump’s determination to carry out a full-scale ‘war on woke’ in the military after being left frustrated at official resistance to his policies in his first term.
Expected policy changes including reintroducing a ban on transgender troops, ending abortion travel policies and a stout defence of the practice of naming bases after Confederate figures.
Trump is said to be planning to set up a ‘warrior board’ to review senior officers in the US military, which would be the first step in tackling the ‘woke generals’ he complained about on the campaign trail.
A copy of the order, seen by the Wall Street Journal, indicates the process will be outsourced to former officers who have gained Trump’s trust.
Eric Edelman, who served as the Pentagon’s top policy official during the Bush administration, suggested Hegseth’s appointment was evidence that Trump ‘puts the highest value on loyalty’.
‘It appears that one of the main criteria that’s being used is, how well do people defend Donald Trump on television?’ he told an interview.
A number of other names floated as possible defense choices had included Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the GOP chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; and Robert Wilkie, a former Pentagon official who was head of Veterans Affairs in Trump’s first term.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned that Hegseth’s lack of senior national security experience would make it more difficult to get Senate confirmation.
‘I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him,’ Cancian said.
Even some Republicans in the Senate – who would vote on his nomination – had a subdued response.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called the choice ‘interesting,’ and Indiana Sen. Todd Young, who served in the Marine Corps, said, ‘I don´t know much about his background or his vision, so I look forward to learning more.’
Hegseth is said to have become friends with Trump during the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show
He was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said he’s not surprised that Trump chose Hegseth because Trump is ‘close to him and likes him and trusts him.’
‘The guy’s obviously tremendously capable, a great communicator,’ Hoeven said. ‘I look forward to getting to know him better.’
The Defense Department has a budget exceeding $800 billion, with about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees based worldwide.
If confirmed, Hegseth would face a daunting array of global crises, from the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and the expanding alliance between Russia and North Korea to the growing competition with China.
There is also the need to upgrade the complex US missile and nuclear defense apparatus and ensure the defense industry can keep up with America’s need for weapons systems.
While the Pentagon is considered a key coveted post in any administration, the defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump´s first term.
Five men held the job during his four years only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as a stopgap. Just two of them were actually confirmed by the Senate.
Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they weren´t prepared to explain or defend.
Many of the generals who worked in his first administration – both on active duty and retired – have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval Office and he has condemned them in return.
A spokesperson for Fox News Media told DailyMail.com: ‘Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a best-selling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade.’
‘His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News Media and wish him the best of luck in Washington.’
