President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated veteran, author, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense for his second administration.
Hegseth, who has spent the past eight years as a host on Fox News' "FOX & Friends Weekend," has been a major advocate for veterans and the military.
"I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense," President-Elect Trump wrote in a statement on X. (emphasis ours)
"Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country.
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.
Pete is a graduate of Princeton University, and has a Graduate Degree from Harvard University.
He is an Army Combat Veteran who did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
For his actions on the battlefield, he was decorated with two Bronze Stars, as well as a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Pete has been a host at FOX News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our Military and Veterans."
Trump also commented in his statement on Hegseth's best-selling book, which advocated for veterans:
Pete’s recent book, “The War on Warriors,” spent nine weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.
The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our Warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.
Pete has also led two Veterans Advocacy organizations, leading the fight for our Warriors, and our great Veterans.
Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our "Peace through Strength” policy."
The Hill reports that Fox News confirmed Hegseth’s deal with the network ended on Tuesday and he will not host its popular morning program “Fox and Friends Weekend,” a program he had presided over since 2017.
“Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a best-selling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade,” a spokesperson for the cable channel said.
“His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
Trump’s pick of Hegseth was somewhat unexpected, as his name had not been circulated among those likely to be considered for the job, but his resumé speaks for itself.
Of course, none other than Senator Liz Warren apparently decided not to actually look into Hegseth's background and dropped one of her most clueless tweets ever (and that is saying something)...
A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 13, 2024
I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers.
Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected. https://t.co/6ADUJSm8x6
Asking for a friend, Lizzy, how many Bronze Stars do you have and what is your military background for the position you so proudly crow about?
The responses on X were, ummm... unilaterally telling...
By framing veteran and double bronze-star recipient Pete Hegseth as "weekend co-host," you prove you don't respect everyone one of our servicemembers.
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) November 13, 2024
Yes. She is this stupid. By far the least intelligent politician in existence, barely beating out Kamala Harris.
— Kris Wysong (@KrisWysong) November 13, 2024
If you want to get a sense of who Hegseth, we highly recommend watching his appearance on an episode of The Shawn Ryan Show released November 7.
HEGSETH: There's a chance to course correct it, but, it would take the new a new Trump administration going after it really hard.
RYAN: How would they correct it? Well, first of all, you got a fire.
HEGSETH: "You've got to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and obviously, to bring in a new Secretary of Defense, but any General that was involved, General, Admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI woke sh*t has got to go."
"Either you're in for war fighting and that's it. That's the only litmus test we care about. You got to get DEI and CRT out of military academies. You're not training young officers to be baptized in this type of thinking. And then, you know, whatever the standards, whatever the combat standards were, say, and, I don't know, 1995, let's just make those the standards. And as far as recruiting to hire the guy that, you know, did Top Gun Maverick and create some real ads that motivate people to want to serve."
"And there's lots of other ways in which you could identify who gets promoted and what. But there's an ethos change, I mean, there's a reason we're not, people don't want to serve because they don't trust that their senior leaders are going to have their best interest in mind in combat."
"I know there were mistakes made on our tours all over the place. But I, at least for the most part, had a sense that my senior leaders were committed to the completion of the mission for the right reasons, and maybe there were strategic differences and all that other stuff. And it wasn't always perfect, but now that trust is broken. And you have to reestablish that trust by by putting in no nonsense warfighters in those positions who aren't going to cater to the socially correct garbage."
🚨NEW: Newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on reforming US military leadership:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 13, 2024
Anyone "involved in the woke sh*t has got to go...you have to reestablish that trust by putting in no-nonsense warfighters in those positions who aren't going to cater to the socially… pic.twitter.com/9181gOVp2q
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated veteran, author, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense for his second administration.
Hegseth, who has spent the past eight years as a host on Fox News' "FOX & Friends Weekend," has been a major advocate for veterans and the military.
"I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense," President-Elect Trump wrote in a statement on X. (emphasis ours)
"Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country.
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.
Pete is a graduate of Princeton University, and has a Graduate Degree from Harvard University.
He is an Army Combat Veteran who did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
For his actions on the battlefield, he was decorated with two Bronze Stars, as well as a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Pete has been a host at FOX News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our Military and Veterans."
Trump also commented in his statement on Hegseth's best-selling book, which advocated for veterans:
Pete’s recent book, “The War on Warriors,” spent nine weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.
The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our Warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.
Pete has also led two Veterans Advocacy organizations, leading the fight for our Warriors, and our great Veterans.
Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our "Peace through Strength” policy."
The Hill reports that Fox News confirmed Hegseth’s deal with the network ended on Tuesday and he will not host its popular morning program “Fox and Friends Weekend,” a program he had presided over since 2017.
“Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a best-selling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade,” a spokesperson for the cable channel said.
“His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
Trump’s pick of Hegseth was somewhat unexpected, as his name had not been circulated among those likely to be considered for the job, but his resumé speaks for itself.
Of course, none other than Senator Liz Warren apparently decided not to actually look into Hegseth's background and dropped one of her most clueless tweets ever (and that is saying something)...
A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 13, 2024
I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers.
Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected. https://t.co/6ADUJSm8x6
Asking for a friend, Lizzy, how many Bronze Stars do you have and what is your military background for the position you so proudly crow about?
The responses on X were, ummm... unilaterally telling...
By framing veteran and double bronze-star recipient Pete Hegseth as "weekend co-host," you prove you don't respect everyone one of our servicemembers.
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) November 13, 2024
Yes. She is this stupid. By far the least intelligent politician in existence, barely beating out Kamala Harris.
— Kris Wysong (@KrisWysong) November 13, 2024
If you want to get a sense of who Hegseth, we highly recommend watching his appearance on an episode of The Shawn Ryan Show released November 7.
HEGSETH: There's a chance to course correct it, but, it would take the new a new Trump administration going after it really hard.
RYAN: How would they correct it? Well, first of all, you got a fire.
HEGSETH: "You've got to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and obviously, to bring in a new Secretary of Defense, but any General that was involved, General, Admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI woke sh*t has got to go."
"Either you're in for war fighting and that's it. That's the only litmus test we care about. You got to get DEI and CRT out of military academies. You're not training young officers to be baptized in this type of thinking. And then, you know, whatever the standards, whatever the combat standards were, say, and, I don't know, 1995, let's just make those the standards. And as far as recruiting to hire the guy that, you know, did Top Gun Maverick and create some real ads that motivate people to want to serve."
"And there's lots of other ways in which you could identify who gets promoted and what. But there's an ethos change, I mean, there's a reason we're not, people don't want to serve because they don't trust that their senior leaders are going to have their best interest in mind in combat."
"I know there were mistakes made on our tours all over the place. But I, at least for the most part, had a sense that my senior leaders were committed to the completion of the mission for the right reasons, and maybe there were strategic differences and all that other stuff. And it wasn't always perfect, but now that trust is broken. And you have to reestablish that trust by by putting in no nonsense warfighters in those positions who aren't going to cater to the socially correct garbage."
🚨NEW: Newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on reforming US military leadership:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 13, 2024
Anyone "involved in the woke sh*t has got to go...you have to reestablish that trust by putting in no-nonsense warfighters in those positions who aren't going to cater to the socially… pic.twitter.com/9181gOVp2q