(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump is nominating Pete Hegseth, host of Fox News Channel’s weekend morning program and an Army National Guard officer, as his defense secretary, the president-elect said in a statement on Tuesday evening, putting another fierce loyalist in charge of the government’s biggest agency.
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country,” Trump said in a statement. “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would take over the Pentagon at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, where Israel is battling Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, and in Ukraine, where Russian forces continue to gain on Kyiv’s troops, despite billions in military aid from the US and allies.
China, at the same time, poses a long-term threat for Washington as it plows ahead with military innovation and building up its nuclear arsenal.
But Hegseth is an unconventional choice for a role that has traditionally gone to one-time military leaders, lawmakers or government officials with decades of experience. Hegseth did once run a conservative group that advocated for greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and had been considered for a role running that department during Trump’s first term.
According to his official biography, Hegseth earned a degree in politics from Princeton and a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, which he later mailed back in protest against the school’s liberal teachings. He has said a stint as an analyst at Bear Stearns from 2004 to 2006 was interrupted by two military deployments.
If confirmed, Hegseth would take over what’s commonly regarded as the world’s largest organization and the largest US employer, with more than 770,000 employees and 2 million men and women in uniform. Its budget is more than $840 billion and its finances are so complicated it’s never successfully completed an audit.
In nominating Hegseth, though, Trump would have a staunch loyalist helping spearhead what are expected to be radical changes at the Pentagon, which prides itself on being apolitical.
Hegseth, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday night, is “somebody who will, I think be reform-minded. He’s highly qualified.”
In his campaign, Trump has promised to ban transgender people from the military, strip away diversity and inclusion policies in government, and has talked of using the National Guard and possibly the active-duty military to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
The White House may also charge the new Pentagon boss with cutting costs from its budget and pivoting its procurement bureaucracy toward funding technology innovations.
Hegseth would confront Trump’s close ties with Elon Musk, whose SpaceX has become a vital partner for NASA and the US Defense Department with contracts worth billions. Musk threw his weight behind Trump this summer and has sat in on phone calls with world leaders at Mar a Lago in Florida, and weighed in on possible administration picks.
There was high turnover for Pentagon chiefs in the first Trump administration. Retired four-star General James Mattis resigned in protest in late 2018 over Trump’s antipathy toward alliances, and later criticized him as someone “who tries to divide us.”
The second, Mark Esper, was more amenable on issues such as troop drawdowns in Afghanistan and Germany and focusing more personnel and funds on the border with Mexico. But even Esper was fired after objecting to Trump’s threats to use troops to quell protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Hegseth’s confirmation hearing could surface controversial stances he’s taken on military matters, including his advocacy on behalf of American soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes in Iraq and his defense of the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Hegseth’s unit served at the US prison base in Cuba, and he subsequently volunteered to serve in Iraq. He also served in Afghanistan.
His name hadn’t been on the lists of people who were considered more likely candidates such as Representative Mike Waltz of Florida — who was chosen to be national security advisor — or former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, whom Trump has ruled out. Other possible candidates included Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa and Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas.
Yet the pick also conforms with Trump’s longtime preference for staff who are said to look the part. Choosing Hegseth — who wrote books including “Battle for the American Mind” and “The War on Warriors” — also signals Trump will indeed make good on his pledge to crack down on what he sees as “woke” initiatives at the Pentagon.
--With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak.
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