In the Cabinet appointment that no one saw coming, President-elect Donald Trump has selected Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.
The announcement that Trump had tapped Hegseth, a decorated veteran of the Army National Guard who served multiple tours in the Middle East, was met with shock and skepticism by even some of Trump’s own supporters. The idea that the host of a TV morning show could lead the federal government’s most important agency and its $800 billion budget seemed absurd on its face, despite his previous military service.
But, Trump was elected to disrupt the status quo. His election victory last week was a sweeping mandate to change the way the federal government, including the Pentagon, operates. And, in Hegseth, Trump found someone who shares his vision of disrupting Washington’s day-to-day operations.
Hegseth may have made his name on television as the energetic host of a morning news show, but he cut his teeth in the Army National Guard after attending Princeton University. He also later earned a master’s degree from Harvard.
Most importantly, Hegseth has already built up a healthy skepticism toward the Pentagon’s modus operandi in recent years, criticizing it for prioritizing a progressive political agenda over military readiness and lethality. This past summer he released his latest book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” excoriating the politicization of the U.S. military and arguing in favor of its reform.
Fixing the problem that Hegseth diagnosed is a major part of Trump’s agenda. In a campaign policy video, the president-elect blamed the military’s embrace of progressive politics under the Biden administration for recruiting shortfalls currently plaguing multiple branches of the military.
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“Joe Biden’s woke policies and political purges have repulsed many great patriots from serving,” Trump said. “They don’t want to serve in our military. Frankly, they disrespect our president. That’s a big factor. I will restore the proud culture and honor traditions of America’s armed forces. And there will be no Marxism allowed, no communism allowed, and we’ll get rid of the fascists.”
In selecting a Secretary of Defense, Trump was looking for someone who would help him execute that agenda. In Hegseth, he found someone who not only understands the problem of politicization in the military, but is dedicated to ending it and making the U.S. military the most fearsome fighting force in the world once more.