Pete Hegseth, host of the network Fox News, the favorite of President-elect Donald Trump, will be the next Secretary of Defense of the U.S. After a series of predictable appointments within the establishment, from his campaign manager as chief of staff to congressmen, senators, and governors for top positions, the Republican leader has surprised everyone with a decision reminiscent of those in 2016, during his first term.
Hegseth, a military veteran, is one of the faces of the weekend edition of Fox and Friends, Trump's go-to show on his favorite network, where he regularly calls in to participate or vent. Someone close, conservative, and with seven children, who shares his ideology in general terms and who in his talks denounces that "there is a political movement, called Marxist or cultural Marxist, that seeks the destruction of Western civilization and the United States" from within.
In the statement announcing his appointment, shortly after the new CIA director or the White House lawyer, the president defines his new role, responsible for the entire Defense apparatus, deployment worldwide, or aid to Ukraine as a "warrior who has dedicated his entire life to the troops and his country. With Pete at the helm, our enemies will be forewarned because the Army will be great again," he wrote in his particular style.
Trump highlights that Hegseth, 44, with degrees from Harvard and Princeton, served in Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan and received recognitions such as two Bronze Stars. And that from his television show, he has helped veterans over the past eight years. Without any executive, political, or diplomatic experience, the president-elect points out that the host has authored a bestseller in which, according to him, the "betrayal of the left" to the troops is denounced. And he promises that with his patriotism, he will be the champion of the new foreign policy: "peace through strength."
The appointment is perhaps the most controversial to date, or certainly the one that will generate the most controversy. Due to the magnitude of what is at stake, with 1.3 million soldiers and an annual budget close to a trillion dollars. Due to the apparent lack of qualifications, but also because the host, very active and outspoken, has all kinds of inappropriate, unwarranted, and difficult to justify comments to his name.
In a recent podcast, Hegseth said he does not believe women should have combat roles in the military. In another interview to discuss his book, published in the summer, the author claims that "in the last 10 or 15 years, the Pentagon has a perfect record in war game simulations with China: we lose on all occasions." According to his theories, the U.S. always lags behind due to the weapons procurement and manufacturing system and the bureaucracy of the "military-industrial complex," while China "is building its army for the sole purpose of fighting against the United States" at some point in the future, citing hypersonic missiles as examples.
His fit will be complicated. He is an unknown to almost everyone, starting with the senators who must confirm him and continuing through the Defense universe, from companies to lobbyists, politicians, analysts, and the generals or admirals he will have to work with. Not to mention NATO allies.
The heart of the Maga movement will be more satisfied, as they are with him in the culture wars and because the names previously put forward by Trump, from Marco Rubio as Secretary of State to Mike Haltz as national security advisor, seemed dangerous to them, close to the neoconservative movement that marked President George W. Bush's term.
Hegseth, a veteran and 15 years younger than the average occupant of the position in the past, is a complete outsider of the system, but at the same time, he holds dozens of controversial opinions. Like when he suggested bombing Iran after Trump authorized the drone strike in Baghdad of Qasem Soleimani, believing that action was not enough retaliation for his actions in the region.
The same has happened recently, always with Iran in the background. Explaining how after the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, there is "little appetite in the U.S. for nation-building or regime changes," but that "Iran obtaining the atomic bomb is a big problem." Therefore, the designated Secretary of Defense argues, "if Israel wants to deal with them, we should allow it. It's ridiculous, it's an existential issue. If it weren't for Israel, Iran would have had the bomb today."
Trump has rewarded the loyalty and defense that Hegseth has shown for years on camera. And he has valued the conversations between them over the years. The main role of the Secretary of Defense candidate, who will have to pass hearings in Congress, was to pressure and lobby for a series of military personnel investigated for war crimes to be exonerated.
Amid fears that Trump may use his powers as commander-in-chief to purge top generals or public officials, politicizing the Department of Defense, Trump's pick for Pentagon chief has explicitly stated that a clean-up of senior military positions, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, must begin.
"First of all, we have to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Hegseth said when podcast host Shawn Ryan asked him a few days ago about military reform. "Any general who has been involved, any general, admiral, whatever, who has been involved in anything related to diversity or woke things has to go."