President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to nominate Pete Hegseth, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and weekend host of the Fox News morning show, as defense secretary.
Trump also announced Wednesday afternoon that he would nominate Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence to complete his national security team.
Hegseth’s selection, announced behind schedule Tuesday, immediately drew more attention than some more conventional picks Trump had announced for other Cabinet-level positions.
Outside of his time in the army, Hegseth, 44, has no government experience. According to a biography on his personal website, he was CEO of the veterans advocacy group Concerned Veterans for America. He served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For his combat service he was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in a statement from his transition team. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on guard – our military will be great again and America will never back down.”
No women in combat
On Fox, in several books he has written and in other public forums, Hegseth has been vocal about his social conservative views.
Last week he told a podcast host that “women shouldn’t be taking on combat roles.”
“It hasn’t made us more effective, it hasn’t made us deadlier, it hasn’t made fighting more complicated,” he said on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast.
He also criticized the Defense Department’s work under Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to pursue diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Unfortunately, the incentive for generals under the Biden administration and the Obama administration was to conform to the ideologies of left-wing politicians who were pounding into the Pentagon things that have nothing to do with winning wars,” he said during an appearance on Fox News Promote a book about the military. “What gender are you? What is your race? DEI (Critical Race Theory).”
Hegseth’s focus on culture war issues has been praised by some conservatives, including the influential think tank The Heritage Foundation.
“At a time when bloated and woke initiatives distract from our armed forces’ core warfighting mission, we need a Secretary like Pete who has both served in combat and advocated for veterans on Capitol Hill. Under President Biden and Secretary (Lloyd) Austin, our military has grown weaker while conflicts abroad have increased. “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth will make our military great again while continuing to put America first,” the foundation said in a statement.
Inexperience a factor?
But Democratic members of Congress expressed unease about the nomination, and even Republicans withheld their full support.
Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a Statement about X that the Senate should give the nomination “the greatest possible consideration.”
“The job of secretary of defense should not be an entry-level position, and I doubt that President-elect Trump has chosen a television news anchor to fill this immensely important role,” Smith said. “While I respect and admire Mr. Hegseth’s military service, I am concerned about his inexperience given the security challenges we face around the world.”
Even Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican and close Trump ally, expressed skepticism about the election, Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reported reported.
“Really? I’d have to think about it,” Tuberville, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will manage the confirmation process, reportedly said.
The ambivalence toward Hegseth stands out among Trump’s other early recommendations.
Indiana Republican Senator Todd Young sent a series of posts on X this week praising the selection MP Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the United Nations, fWorms Rep. Lee Zeldin for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Rep. Mike Waltz to become national security adviser and former national intelligence director John Ratcliffe to run the CIA and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the ambassador to Israel.
He did not communicate his support for Hegseth on X.
Likewise, the official X account of the House Armed Services Committee, whose chairman is Mike Rogers of Alabama, posted praise for Stefanik and Waltz on
Tattoos were a warning sign
Hegseth grew up in Forest Lake, Minnesota. He attended Princeton University as an undergraduate and received a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
He sought the Minnesota Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2012, but withdrew after the state convention endorsed eventual candidate Kurt Bills. Incumbent Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar handily defeated Bills in the general election.
Hegseth served in the Army National Guard until 2021, when he said he was removed from a command to attend Biden’s inauguration because of questions about a tattoo.
“Ultimately, members of my command thought I was an extremist or a white nationalist because I had a tattoo, a religious tattoo, it’s a Jerusalem cross, anyone can look it up,” he said during his June appearance on Fox. “It was used as a premise to revoke my order to guard the inauguration.”
He suspected there was another reason for his removal, perhaps that he was a Trump supporter, Fox News host or a “patriot extremist.”
Hegseth has a chest tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross, a symbol of the Crusaders who fought against Muslims and Jews in the Middle Ages.
Broad support for Rubio
Trump’s selection of Rubio and Gabbard came Wednesday, although media reports had said for days that Rubio would be named.
“Marco is a highly respected leader and a very strong voice for freedom,” Trump said in a statement. “He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down before our adversaries.”
Senate Cabinet appointees often have an easier path to confirmation by that chamber because of the personal connections they have developed.
That appears to be the case with Rubio, who quickly earned the trust of Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Mark Warner of Virginia.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congressman from Hawaii who sought the party’s presidential nomination in 2020, campaigned for Trump this year.
“I know that Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community by standing up for our constitutional rights and ensuring peace through strength,” Trump wrote. “Tulsi will make us all proud!”
Last updated on November 13, 2024 at 4:27 pm
