New York, 13 November 2024: Pete Hegseth, a Fox News co-host, author, and US military veteran, has been nominated as the next secretary of defense, a move positioning him to lead the world’s most powerful military.
Hegseth, 44, served as an infantry officer in the National Guard with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Star medals, according to his official website.
He joined Fox News in 2014 as a contributor and currently co-hosts “Fox and Friends Weekend” and hosts programs for Fox Nation. He has also written several books on military and political issues.
In announcing the nomination, President-elect Donald Trump praised Hegseth as “tough, smart, and a true believer in America First.” Trump declared on social media, “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice. Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth had previously been considered for the role of secretary of veterans affairs during Trump’s first term but was not selected. Trump also highlighted Hegseth’s success as an author, noting his best-selling book, The War on Warriors, which critiques what he describes as a “left-wing betrayal of our Warriors” and advocates for restoring the military’s focus on meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.
Hegseth made headlines in 2019 for successfully lobbying Trump to pardon two service members accused of murder and to restore the rank of a third found guilty of posing with a corpse in Iraq.
A graduate of both Princeton and Harvard, Hegseth is outspoken about his Ivy League education. He returned his degree to Harvard, openly criticizing the institution on-air for its perceived leftist bias.
