President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Army veteran and conservative commentator Pete Hegseth as his next Secretary of Defense, saying the appointment will help strengthen America’s military.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our military will be great again, and America will never back down,” Trump wrote in a statement Tuesday evening. “Nobody fights harder for the troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘peace through strength’ policy.”
Hegseth, 44, has been a FOX News host for eight years and a strong backer of Trump. He previously led the conservative veterans advocacy groups Vets For Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America, pushing for fewer restrictions on using Veterans Affairs funding for private health care.
His experience in the military came as a National Guard soldier, serving tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan. Hegseth earned Combat Infantryman’s Badge and two Bronze Stars, and still serves in the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Individual Ready Reserve.
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His nomination may be the most surprising in a rapid series of announcements from the incoming administration in recent days.
The Trump team to this point had chosen more experienced candidates for key national security posts — such as Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fl., as national security adviser and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl., who is widely rumored to be the choice for secretary of state.
Several members of Congress had been rumored to be under consideration for the top Pentagon job. Hegseth, by contrast, had not been publicly discussed as a serious candidate before Tuesday.
His experience is also radically different from that of recent secretaries. Sec. Lloyd Austin entered the role with more than 40 years spent in the Army, ending as head of American forces in the Middle East. Trump’s first pick to the role in his last term was James Mattis, a retired Marine general who also led U.S. Central Command.
In his announcement, Trump called Hegseth “a warrior for the troops” and highlighted his recent book, “The War on Warriors,” saying it “reveals the leftwing betrayal of our warriors, and how we must return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”
Hegseth will need to be confirmed by the Senate after Trump is sworn into office in January, a process that should be made easier after Republicans won the majority in the chamber in last week’s election.
Trump on Tuesday also announced Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the heads of his new “Department of Government Efficiency,” designed to “pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies — essential to the “save America” movement.”
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
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