The 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced his pick for Secretary of Defense: Fox News star Pete Hegseth.
Trump issued a statement on Tuesday to nominate Hegseth for the position in the US Department of Defense. “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,” the president-elect said. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
The decision to pick the current Fox contributor was met with a mixture of praise, criticism and confusion due to his lack of national security experience.
Hegseth’s new role will see him take charge of the Department of Defense and about 1.4 million active military personnel in the executive department of the Armed Forces. His installation will require Senate approval.
He has considerably less experience than his predecessor Lloyd Austin’s 50-year-long military career – serving as the 12th commander of United States Central Command between 2013 and 2016 and vice chief of staff of the Army in 2012.
Here’s everything we know about Hegseth, from his family life with his wife Jennifer Rauchet to his extensive career with Fox.
College and his time in the military
Along with a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, Hegseth received a Master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
He worked at the ill-fated investment bank Bear Stearns after college before leaving to serve in the military. Hegseth was deployed with the Minnesota Army National Guard as an infantry platoon leader to Iraq and as a captain to Afghanistan.
He earned two Bronze Stars, two Army Commendation Medals, and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge throughout his decade-long military career.
He also briefly ran for Senate for his home state of Minnesota in 2012 as a GOP candidate before withdrawing from the race.
His career at Fox
Hegseth joined Fox in 2014 after being hired as a contributor by network boss Roger Ailes. Along with co-hosting Fox & Friends, Hegseth co-hosted Fox’s New Year’s Eve special All-American New Year with political commentator Lisa Kennedy Montgomery.
He’s hosted multiple programs on FOX Nation, including Battle in the Holy Land, which is centered on the war between Israel and Gaza. He was also a part of The MisEducation of America, Untold: Patriots Revealed, and The Life of Jesus. Since 2018, he’s hosted the annual FOX Nation Patriot Awards.
During his time on the air, Hegseth has shared his candid thoughts about American policies, with claims that the US is spending too much supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia. He has also been an outspoken advocate for Israel. During an interview with The Jewish Press in 2016, he suggested both Israel’s founding as a nation-state and the US revolution against Great Britain represent “the story of God’s chosen people.”
He’s also written several books for Fox’s publishing company, including The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation, and Modern Warriors: Real Stories from Real Heroes.
His marriage to Jennifer Rauchet
Hegseth has been married to television producer Jennifer Rauchet since 2019. They got married at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey.
The pair welcomed a daughter, Gwen, in 2017. Rauchet also has three children from her previous marriage.
The Fox News star was married twice before that, splitting from his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, in 2009, and divorcing his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2017. Deering and Hegseth welcomed three children before their split.
Last year, he told the Nashville Christian Family that they “are a family brought together by the grace of God. There are no ‘steps’ or ‘halves’ in the Hegseth clan.”
However, Hegeth’s relationship with Rauchet, who was a producer on Fox’s morning show, reportedly started while he was still married. In an interview for journalist Brian Stelter’s 2020 book Hoax, an executive confirmed the affair and said Rauchet showed favoritism toward Hegseth. “She kept putting Pete on TV,” the executive said.
The pair reportedly told Fox about their relationship, and Rauchet was moved to a different show on the network.
How has Hegseth’s appointment been received?
Questions about Hegseth’s qualifications for the senior cabinet position were quickly raised by security officials and Republican politicians.
“Who the f*** is this guy?” a defense industry lobbyist who was granted anonymity told Politico, adding that they had hoped Trump would nominate “someone who actually has an extensive background in defense. That would be a good start.”
“Trump picking Pete Hegseth is the most hilariously predictably stupid thing,” former Republican congressman and Trump critic Adam Kinzinger wrote on X.
Among the critics was Hegseth’s former colleague and ex-longtime Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who left the network after a decade in 2016 having filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against chairman Roger Ailes.
“From silly diner interviews on Weekend Fox and Friends to Secretary of Defense?” she wrote on X. “I never thought I’d say I’m stunned about any pick after the election but nominating Pete Hegseth for this incredibly important role? Yes he’s a veteran… and?”
Hegseth has “an excellent background as a junior officer but does not have the senior national security experience that secretaries need,” Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Associated Press. “I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him.”