Trump has nominated Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his choice for secretary of defense
Getty ImagesUS President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth, Fox News host, author and military veteran, as his choice for secretary of defense.
Hegseth, 44, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, will face the world’s most powerful military in his first political role.
Announcing his choice on Tuesday, Trump described him as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First”.
The news came the same day Trump announced that another political newcomer, billionaire Elon Musk, would take on the government’s role in cutting spending.
Trump’s administration is looking after his victory in last week’s presidential election. Hegseth was one of a series of security appointments that included Trump’s appointment of John Ratcliffe to head the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
If confirmed in his role by the US Senate, Hegseth will arrive at the Pentagon with decisions to make on issues such as military aid to Israel during its campaign in Gaza, and support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
Trump wants the US to distance itself from foreign conflicts in general. During the election campaign, he criticized the Biden administration’s spending to support Kyiv.
Also on Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he is running for Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem to play an important role as the secretary of national security. Another military veteran, Michael Waltzhe was chosen by Trump as national security adviser – which means he will advise the president on foreign threats.
Senator Marco Rubio – who shares Waltz’s hawkish views on China – is expected to be Trump’s next secretary of state, sources have told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News. But the choice is not yet confirmed.
Republicans regained control of the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, and are headed for a majority in the House, the lower chamber, as the vote counting continues.
Other federal appointments — including Hegseth’s — require a Senate confirmation vote, although Trump, also a Republican, wants the next leader of the US Senate to let him go through that process. He can assign other tasks directly.
Senate Republicans are expected to vote on a new leader on Wednesday – the day Trump is expected to visit the outgoing president, Joe Biden, at the White House as part of a traditional transition of power.
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hegseth, an Ivy League graduate, has in recent years worked as a linebacker. He lives with his wife and seven children in Tennessee.
He hosted programs on Fox News, using his platform to draw attention to military and veterans issues. He had his last day at Fox on Tuesday.
It is reported that the American media successfully persuaded Trump during his first term as president to pardon those accused of war crimes.
In his statement announcing Hegseth as his defense secretary pick on Tuesday, Trump highlighted the former soldier’s education at Princeton and Harvard universities, as well as his military experience in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“With Pete in office, America’s enemies are visible – our military will be great again, and America will not back down,” Trump wrote in the post.
The president-elect also drew attention to Hegseth’s work as a published author. He said the book The War on Warrior “reveals the remaining betrayals of our heroes, and how we must return our soldiers to honor, execution, accountability and success”.
What did you say before about the military?
Hegseth has been strongly opposed to what he calls “rebellious” policies within the US military and its leadership.
“The buzzword around the military world is that our diversity is our strength,” Hegseth said on a podcast this month.
One of his tasks as defense secretary would be to carry out Trump’s campaign promises to eliminate American generals who are suspected of pursuing progressive policies in the military.
Before his election by Trump, Hegseth was asked on the same podcast about what changes he would make to the military. He spoke “for the first time” about the dismissal of the top military officer of the United States, General Charles “CQ” Brown Jr, and said that people involved in diversity, equality or inclusion policies “must go”.
“Either you’re in a fight and that’s it, that’s the only litmus test we care about,” Hegseth told The Shawn Ryan Show, in an episode that aired last week.
Gen Brown was a pilot who had combat experience in the Pacific and the Middle East, too appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff role by President Joe Biden last year.
In the same podcast, Hegseth also said that “whatever” the fighting standards were in 1995, “let’s make those standards”.
What was the reaction?
Hegseth’s choice was welcomed by many prominent Republicans, but other reactions have been very mixed.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis told The Associated Press that the choice was interesting, while Senator Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama, said he would “have to think” about what he thought of the nomination.
Incoming national security adviser Waltz said Hegseth has the “courage” to make “real changes” at the Pentagon. Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the job “should not be an entry-level position”.
Posting on X, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said the appointment of Hegseth as defense secretary “will make us less safe and should be rejected”.
“The host of Fox & Friends over the weekend is not fit to be Secretary of Defense,” he added. “I lead the military team in the Senate. All three of my brothers were in uniform. I respect all our members.”
North American journalist Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his biweekly newsletter US Election Unspun. UK students can register here. Those outside the UK can register here.
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