US President-elect Donald Trump, on Tuesday night, announced the nomination of Army veteran, author, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his defense secretary.
"Our military will be great again, and America will never back down," Trump said, announcing his decision.
"I am honoured to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my cabinet as the secretary of defense. Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our 'Peace through Strength' policy," Trump said.
Who is Pete Hegseth
The 44-year-old Hegseth is a decorated Army National Guard veteran who served in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. A graduate of Princeton University (2003), Hegseth has a graduate degree from Harvard University.
Before taking a commission in the Army National Guard, he was an equity markets analyst working for Bear Stearns.
Hegseth volunteered for service in Iraq where he served as a platoon leader and a civil-military affairs officer. He was also deployed in Afghanistan with the Minnesota Guard. Hegseth taught counterinsurgency techniques in Kabul.
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For his bravery on the battlefield, Hegseth was decorated with two Bronze stars, as well as a Combat Infantryman's badge.
Hegseth stated that he left the military in 2021 after being sidelined for his political and religious views. "The feeling was mutual - I didn't want this Army anymore either," Hegseth wrote in his book 'The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free'
“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," Trump said.
Stint at Fox
He joined as a contributor for Fox in 2014. He currently co-hosts 'Fox & Friends Weekend'.
Hegseth made headlines for his strong views on Iran, in 2020. He described Iran as "an evil regime" and called for aggressive military action against the country to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
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In the wake of Iran firing ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq in 2020, on air, he urged Trump to bomb economic and cultural sites in Iran if they were housing weapons.
In the past, he has been critical of international laws regarding war crimes saying they were "rigged" against America, and wanted the US to rewrite these laws.
The announcement to make Hegseth, a NATO-skeptic, as the new defence secretary is being seen as Trump's strategy to place loyalists in key positions within his administration.
