Pete Hegseth has a face for television and a machismo of sorts. It appears, even to parts of MAGA, that Donald Trump put him in charge of the armed forces because the President likes attractive people on TV. “Right out of central casting,” Trump once told Secretary Hegseth, patting him on the bicep. “Pete loves war!”
Hegseth has declared that he wants to sideline military lawyers and go from “tepid legality” to “maximum lethality,” partly because it rhymes. He was accused of ordering the killing of survivors after strikes on alleged Caribbean drug boats – which, if true, would be a war crime. Hegseth has a tattoo on his right arm that reads “Deus Vult,” a rallying cry from the first crusade in 1096. “Ruthless and lethal,” is another of his catchphrases.
After coming into office, one of Hegseth’s priorities was to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War, which he did. “We are returning to a pure, uncompromised warrior ethos,” he said in his announcement. Yet now there is an ongoing confusion about the nomenclature. “DoW is the official term,” someone in the Pentagon told me, “but many people still use DoD outside of work.” A few military staff have taken to calling Hegseth “Dumb McNamara,” after the Cold War-era Secretary Robert McNamara.
For much of his life, Hegseth has been a heavy drinker. He had a spell in the National Guard, where he volunteered to serve in Iraq, and struggled with the return to civilian life. The highest rank he achieved was Major, and later found success hosting Fox and Friends Weekend from 2017 to 2024. Sources at Fox have accused him of being drunk on air, and there is a story about him getting so drunk he tried to join the dancers on stage at a strip club. Hegseth calls such stories smears. During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth promised members of Congress that he would stop drinking, acknowledging that as Secretary he would be on the job “24/7.”
Despite his difficult start, Hegseth sought a serious restructuring of the US military. His allies praised his eagerness to cut “dead wood,” but inside the American war apparatus, opinions of him differ. Younger GIs tend to like him because he’s plainspoken – a guy you’d talk to at a bar. Officers are less sure of Hegseth because of his casual approach to military operations and his sloganeering. Some believe he undermines military professionalism.
The top brass worry about Hegseth interfering in military discipline for partisan or personal reasons. Or just because he wants to show off. Strange things have happened, such as military helicopters flying over Kid Rock’s house. The musician filmed himself saluting two Apaches that had veered off course to hover over his yard. The military wanted to investigate an apparent breach of orders but Hegseth shut that down. “No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots,” he ordered on social media.
Hegseth has fired many experienced commanders. The joke goes that Pete Hegseth has taken out more American generals than Iranian ones. In August, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, the branch’s top civilian leader and a close confidant of J.D. Vance, met with Donald Trump to resign. He told Trump that the Army was in a weakened state. Trump was reportedly unaware of the high number of top officials that had left under Hegseth – the Army has fewer generals than at any point in living memory – and expressed concern. Driscoll had been butting heads with Hegseth for a while. He objected to the firing of the decorated general Randy George and Hegseth’s wider approach to the military, but his decision to leave came at a delicate moment.
Trump was reportedly surprised to discover that missile interceptors and precision munition stocks are significantly depleted, leading to a shouting match between him and Hegseth at Camp David in July. When this lack of munitions was reported, Hegseth posted a screenshot from CNN that read, “U.S. has used nearly 80% of key missile interceptors.” He wrote, “NOT TRUE, @CNN. Shame on you. We don’t hate the Fake News media enough.”
Hegseth has had problems with leaks. Last April, it was reported that the Pentagon was preparing to brief Elon Musk on US plans should there be war with China. Hegseth threatened to subject Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Christopher Gray, to a polygraph test to discover whether he was the source. His senior aides have followed through with that threat on other colleagues last spring, conducting polygraph tests on suspect employees.
Hegseth’s muscular approach to information security is strangely inconsistent, regardless of whether he’s been adding his wife to sensitive Signal chats about national security. His wife has an unusual role at the Pentagon. In August, she was made chair of the President’s Military Spouse Commission. It is a new position, meant to “advise and assist the President on policies that affect military spouses and families,” according to the White House.
When Trump proposed attacking Iran, many members of his cabinet cautioned against it, including former director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Hegseth did not. Deus Vult, after all. Expecting Pete Hegseth to avoid a war would have been like expecting Elon Musk not to build rockets. Gabbard stepped down at the end of June.
There are rumors that Hegseth wants to get on board with Vance if he runs, but given Driscoll’s friendship with the Vice President and Vance’s views of the Iran war, it’s hard to imagine he would have much influence. Some sources suggest that Trump is planning to fire Hegseth. That seems unlikely at the moment, but the President may need for a loyal scapegoat if Iran is seen as the cause of Republican failure in the midterms. At the same time, there are reports that the Secretary of War wants a run at the presidency himself. When asked about the possibility of Hegseth running in 2028, Trump replied, “I think he’s doing a fantastic job, but it’s very early to talk about that. We have to get through the midterms first, and I think he’s a very good guy.”
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Gee, a man's man is running the Department of War. I'd say that's a win all the way around.