Peter Brian Hegseth (/ˈhɛɡsɛθ/; born June 6, 1980) is an American television presenter, author, and former Army National Guard officer who has been announced as the forthcoming nominee for United States secretary of defense in Donald Trump's second cabinet.

Pete Hegseth
Headshot of Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth in 2021
United States Secretary of Defense
Presumptive nominee
Assuming office
TBD
Appointed byDonald Trump
SucceedingLloyd Austin
Personal details
Born
Peter Brian Hegseth

(1980-06-06) June 6, 1980 (age 44)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
  • Meredith Schwarz
    (m. 2004; div. 2009)
  • Samantha Deering
    (m. 2010; div. 2017)
  • Jennifer Rauchet
    (m. 2019)
Children7
Education
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service2003–2014, 2019–2021
RankMajor
UnitMinnesota Army National Guard
Battles/wars
Awards

A political commentator for Fox News since 2014 and weekend co-host of Fox & Friends from 2017 to 2024, he was previously the executive director of Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.

Hegseth has been active in conservative and Republican politics since his undergraduate days at Princeton University. As a national guardsman he served at Guantánamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2016, he emerged as a supporter of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, and he served as an occasional advisor to Trump throughout the latter's first term as president. Following Hegseth's encouragement, in 2019 Trump pardoned three soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes. Hegseth was considered to lead the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the first Trump administration, but David Shulkin was tapped instead.

On November 12, 2024, President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Hegseth to serve as U.S. defense secretary.

Early life and education

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Hegseth was born on June 6, 1980, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Brian, a basketball coach, and Penny Hegseth.[1][2][3] He was raised in nearby Forest Lake[4] and is of Norwegian descent on both sides of the family.[5] He attended Forest Lake Area High School, where he played football and basketball, graduating in 1999 as valedictorian of his class.

Hegseth went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in politics at Princeton University in 2003.[6][7] While there, he wrote for The Princeton Tory magazine and became its publisher.[8][9] As publisher, he published another student's commentary that sex with an unconscious woman was not rape since there was no durress.[9] Hegseth also played basketball for the Tigers under coach John Thompson III.[10][11] Their team made the NCAA tournament in 2001.[12][13]

In 2013, he received a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[14]

Military career

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Early career

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While at Princeton, Hegseth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 2001.[9] After graduating from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was also commissioned as an infantry officer in the Minnesota National Guard.[15] In 2004, his unit was called to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, under the operational control of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division, where he served as an infantry platoon leader and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after returning from Cuba, Hegseth volunteered to serve in Baghdad and Samarra, Iraq, where he served first as an infantry platoon leader and later as civil-military operations officer. During his time in Iraq, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and a second Army Commendation Medal.[16][citation needed]

Return to active duty

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Hegseth returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain.[17] He volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard to train Afghan security forces.[9] In 2014, Hegseth was promoted to the rank of major and left active duty to be assigned to the Army Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).[18][19]

National guard service

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Hegseth wrote in his fourth book that he rejoined the Guard from the IRR in 2019.[19]

Biden inauguration controversy

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Hegseth was one of 12 national guardsmen flagged as a potential insider threat and removed from the group providing security for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden.[20][21][22]

In 2020, he volunteered to be one of the up-to-25,000 Guard troops authorized by the Pentagon to be put on active duty to help safeguard the January 20, 2021, inauguration. On January 14, 2021, a fellow Guard member who was the unit's security manager and on an anti-terrorism team sent an email to the unit's leaders notifying them of a tattoo on Hegseth's bicep reading "Deus Vult", a phrase the security manager determined was associated with the Crusades and, in the 21st century, with white supremacists who use it to invoke the idea of a white Christian medieval past. Shortly thereafter, Hegseth was told to stay home from the event.[20]

Hegseth has said that his National Guard superiors removed him because of his Jerusalem cross tattoo,[21] a Christian symbol which they determined was connected to extremism.[23] He wrote in his fourth book that this caused him to resign in disgust, and his last day on active duty was March 31, 2021.[19]

Hegseth wrote in the book that he separated from the IRR in January 2024.[24]

Conservative activism

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Upon his return from Iraq, Hegseth worked briefly at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. According to his LinkedIn page, Hegseth left the conservative think tank in 2007 to work as executive director at Vets For Freedom. The organization advocated a greater troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.[25] His job included responding to the Federal Election Commission as treasurer of the organization.[26][27] By 2008, VFF was unable to pay its creditors, who became concerned that money was being wasted on organization parties. A 2009 forensic accountant report by creditors led to Hegseth admitting that the organization was about half a million dollars in debt. VFF's backers decided to merge its core functions with another veterans group, Military Families United, and reduce Hegseth's role. By 2011, Hegseth was demoted from executive director and president with a $45,000 salary to an officer with a $5,000 salary. In 2012, in Hegseth's final year at VFF, he was paid $8,000 while the organization received just $81 in grants.[9]

In 2012, Hegseth formed the political action committee MN PAC.[25] An APM Reports analysis found that while Hegseth ran the MN PAC political action committee, one-third of its $15,000 in funds were spent on Christmas parties for families and friends. Campaign finance laws in Minnesota do not prohibit such spending. Less than half of the PAC's resources were spent on candidates, and as of March 2018, the PAC had closed its account with the state board.[25]

Hegseth was the executive director for Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers from 2013 to 2016. The group advocated greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and sought to get veterans involved with conservative political causes.[28][9] Concerned Veterans for America subsequently hired his brother Philip to work for the non-profit and paid him $108,000, according to tax records from 2016 and 2017. Asked about it, Hegseth's lawyer said that Philip, a May 2015 university graduate, was qualified for the media relations job, and noted that there was no prohibition against private entities hiring family members.[25] In a whistleblower report, former CVA employees said Pete Hegseth was frequently heavily intoxicated during official events to the point of having to be restrained, passing out, and shouting slogans calling for the death of Muslims. The report also said that he sexually pursued female employees and under his leadership the organization ignored allegations of sexual impropriety, including allegations of sexual assault.[9] According to reporting by The New Yorker, mismanagement and alcoholism concerns led to Hegseth's forced resignation from CVA in January 2016.[9]

Hegseth was considered to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in the first Trump administration, but was rejected in favor of David Shulkin in 2017.[29][30]

Senate campaign

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In 2012, Hegseth ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota.[25] He withdrew from the race after the May 2012 convention, but before the Republican primary election in August,[31][32] both events in which Kurt Bills won the nomination.

Political commentary

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Hegseth was a contributor and served as a publisher of the The Princeton Tory, the conservative student newspaper of Princeton University. As publisher, he wrote in 2002 that he "strove to defend the pillars of Western civilization against the distractions of diversity."[33]

During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Hegseth initially backed Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz, and ultimately Donald Trump.[25] Since then, Hegseth has emerged as a strong Trump supporter.[25] As a Fox News personality, he frequently criticized the media and Democrats. He criticized special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.[25] Hegseth has appeared on Fox News Channel, as well as on CNN and MSNBC.[34]

Fox News

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Hegseth in West Palm Beach, Florida, December 2020

Hegseth joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014.[25][35] In December 2018, Hegseth co-hosted Fox News Channel's All-American New Year with Fox Business Network's Kennedy, during which a pre-recorded telephone interview between him and Trump was broadcast.[36][37] He has been a regular guest on Unfiltered with Dan Bongino since 2021.[38][39]

On June 14, 2015, Hegseth accidentally hit a West Point drummer while axe throwing during a live segment in honor of Flag Day. Hegseth missed the target and the axe hit one of the people behind it. Footage of the accident soon became popular on the internet. In 2018 the drummer filed a lawsuit against Fox and Hegseth alleging that he has suffered "severe and serious personal injuries to his mind and body," and "permanent effects of pain, disability, disfigurement and loss of body function" as a result of their negligence.[40]

In May 2018, Hegseth mocked The New York Times for ostensibly not covering a story about the capture of five ISIS leaders, referring to the paper as the "failing New York Times", even though the paper had already filed a report on the story.[41]

Campaign to pardon war criminals

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In May 2019, it was reported that Trump was considering pardoning several US military service members who had been convicted of committing war crimes, including a veteran set to stand trial for shooting indiscriminately at civilians, hitting a girl and an elderly man,[42] as well as fatally stabbing a captured teenage Islamic State (ISIS) member while he was receiving medical treatment. The Daily Beast and CNN later reported that Hegseth had sought to convince Trump to pardon these individuals for months. At the same time, Hegseth was discussing these cases on Fox News without disclosing that he had advised Trump to pardon them.[43][44] In November 2019, Trump pardoned three service members accused or convicted of war crimes. Shortly before Trump announced his decision, Hegseth suggested that Trump was about to take "imminent action" in the cases.[45][46]

U.S. secretary of defense nomination

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In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intended to nominate Hegseth to serve as the next U.S. secretary of defense.[47] Hegseth ended his deal with Fox News that month so he could take the position.[48][49][50]

Several days later, a woman sent a memo to Trump's transition team about a 2017 sexual assault allegation against Hegseth.[51] Several senators subsequently expressed concern.[51] Republican senator Kevin Cramer said the allegations were a "pretty big problem, given that we have...a sexual assault problem in our military” and “I’m not going to pre-judge him, but yeah, it’s a pretty concerning accusation.”[51] Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth said:[52]

It’s frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he’s paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him...This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.

Political positions

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Alice Herman of The Guardian has described Hegseth as having a "Christian nationalist ideology", and as "someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation".[53] In his book, American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free, Hegseth said he believes there are "irreconcilable differences between the Left and the Right in America leading to perpetual conflict that cannot be resolved through the political process". He furthermore called for an "American crusade", which he described as "a holy war for the righteous cause of human freedom". In a May 2024 interview where he talked about education, Hegseth said "Democracy, democracy, defend the democracy. Do you know what our founders did not want us to be? A democracy."[54] Hegseth has explicitly rejected democracy in his book, equating it to a leftist demand; he has also expressed support for election-rigging through gerrymandering to "screw Democrats".[55]

Hegseth predicted that if Democrats won the 2020 election, there would be a "national divorce", that the military and the police "will be forced to make a choice", and that "there will be some form of civil war". He also said that conservatives must "mock, humiliate, intimidate, and crush our leftist opponents" and to "attack first" to deal with a left he equates with "sedition". His book "lays out the strategy we must employ in order to defeat America's internal enemies". Hegseth has described progressives and Democrats as "enemies" of freedom, the U.S. Constitution, and America. Hegseth has said that victory for America includes the end of globalism, socialism, secularism, environmentalism, Islamism, genderism and leftism, the last of which he refers to as a "false religion" and "specter" that views non-believers as "infidels". He has announced his support for American nationalism. Hegseth believes Americans must build a border wall, raise tariffs, learn English and "fight back".[55]

LGBTQ rights

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Hegseth and the other editors of The Princeton Tory at the time published various controversial editorial commentaries in which they said that "The movement to legitimize the homosexual lifestyle and homosexual marriages is strong and must be vigorously opposed", opined that the decision by The New York Times to publish announcements of same-sex marriages had opened the floodgates to incest, polygamy, pedophilia and child marriage, and bestiality and zoophillia: "At what point does the paper deem a 'relationship' unfit for publication? What if we 'loved' our sister and wanted to marry her? Or maybe two women at the same time? A 13-year-old? The family dog?", and claimed that "boys can wear bras and girls can wear ties until we’re blue in the face, but it won’t change the reality that the homosexual lifestyle is abnormal and immoral."[56][57][58]

In a podcast with Hugh Hewitt, Hegseth said that the recruitment challenges of the United States Armed Forces were caused by advertising that featured diverse service members: "There are not enough lesbians in San Francisco, Hugh, to man the 82nd Airborne".[59]

Hegseth opposes transgender troops in the military.[60] In a podcast with Jay Cutler and Sam Mackey, Hegseth said that transgender soldiers are "not deployable" because they are "reliant on chemicals".[61] Hegseth argued that "being transgendered in the military causes complications and differences".[62]

Women's rights

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In a podcast with Jay Cutler and Sam Mackey, Hegseth said that women should not serve in combat roles: "Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means casualties are worse". Hegseth argued that men are "more capable" in combat roles because of biological factors.[61][62] In a podcast with Shawn Ryan, Hegseth said "I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated".[63][59]

Colleges

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In August 2019, he lamented that "young kids voting" are worried about the adverse effects of climate change. Hegseth also criticized universities for teaching students about "environmentalism and radical environmentalism" rather than a "real threat" such as Islamic extremism.[64]

In June 2022, on a Fox & Friends Weekend segment, Hegseth crossed out Harvard on his diploma, writing in "Critical Theory" and then marking "Return to Sender" across the central body as a protest of Harvard and other such universities. "People will say 'this is just a stunt, you still have a degree' and that's fine. I went, I got the degree, I walked to the classes and all that, but I hope this is a statement that as conservatives and patriots, if we love this country, we can't keep sending our kids and elevating them to universities that are poisoning their mind. I may have survived it, but a lot of kids go there and buy into 'critical theory university,' and that's how we get future leaders, Supreme Court Justices, Senators, others, who see America as an evil place. And Harvard is a factory for that kind of thinking" he said. Hegseth then declared his intention to return the diploma to Harvard.[65]

Foreign affairs

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Hegseth has been sharply critical of America's NATO allies, writing, "Outdated, outgunned, invaded, and impotent. Why should America, the European 'emergency contact number' for the past century, listen to self-righteous and impotent nations asking us to honor outdated and one-sided defense arrangements they no longer live up to?" and "Maybe if NATO countries actually ponied up for their own defense — but they don't. They just yell about the rules while gutting their militaries and yelling at America for help."[66] In American Crusade, he said "NATO is not an alliance; it’s a defense arrangement for Europe, paid for and underwritten by the United States" and called on it to be "scrapped and remade in order for freedom to be truly defended". He criticized Turkey's membership of NATO, saying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "openly dreams of restoring the Ottoman empire" and is "an Islamist with Islamist visions for the Middle East".[67]

He criticized US funding for the United Nations in American Crusade, calling it "a fully globalist organization that aggressively advances an anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-freedom agenda. Here’s one set of rules for the United States and Israel, another for everyone else."[67] In 2022, he said the Russian invasion of Ukraine "pales in comparison" to "wokeness" and crime.[68] In March 2022, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.[69] He said: "What's at stake is repelling an authoritarian who basically is saying 'I want the Soviet Union back, I want Ukraine back, I want Kyiv back."[70] He has also voiced criticism towards US military aid to Ukraine.[66]

Hegseth has referred to Israel as "God's chosen people" in a 2016 interview.[66] Hegseth spoke at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem, where he stated "there's no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible."[71][72] Speaking at the National Council of Young Israel gala in New York City the same year, he said "Zionism and Americanism are the front lines of Western civilization and freedom in our world today."[73] He opposed the two-state solution and supported Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.[74] Hegseth has stated that Israel and other international allies can help America defeat its "domestic enemies" which he describes as leftists, progressives, and Democrats.[55] In American Crusade, he compared his support for Israel to the Crusades, saying "We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians a thousand years ago, we must. We need an American crusade." He also states that "if you love those, learn to love the state of Israel".[67]

Hegseth has called Iran's government an "evil regime". In January 2020, Hegseth expressed strong support for Trump's decision to kill Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.[75][76] He also called on Trump to bomb the Iranian homeland, including cultural sites if they were storing weapons.[77] In May 2020, Hegseth said the "communist Chinese" want to "end our civilization".[78] Hegseth later said China is creating a military "specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America".[66]

Islam

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In American Crusade, Hegseth says Islam "is not a religion of peace, and it never has been" and claims "all modern Muslim countries are either formal or de facto no-go zones for practicing Christians and Jews". He said Islam was "almost entirely captured and leveraged by Islamists." He claimed Islamists plan to demographically, culturally and politically "conquer" Europe and America, allying with secularism to crush "our nation's Judeo-Christian institutions". He said Islamists plan to "seed the West with as many Muslims as possible" and "thanks to their very high birth rates relative to native populations and their strategically insular culture — the sons and daughters of those migrants and refugees multiply in greater numbers than do native citizens." He pointed out the elections of Muslim officials in the United Kingdom and the increase of the Muslim population in Europe to say that the United States will follow the same path without an intervention.[60] Hegseth has stated that the end of the US military would allow "Islamists" to "wipe America and Israel off the map".[55]

Military

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Hegseth has said that he wants to fire General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hegseth also wants to purge the military of "woke" generals and DEI programs, saying that "any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI, woke shit has got to go."[79] Hegseth also criticized the US military slogan "our diversity is our strength", calling it the "dumbest phrase on planet Earth".[80] In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, he has criticized efforts to counter extremism within the US military, writing "Rooting out 'extremism,' today's generals push rank-and-file patriots out of their formations".[54] In The War on Warriors, Hegseth called on the US to ignore the Geneva Conventions, arguing it gives the enemy side an unfair advantage. He writes that "We are just fighting with one hand behind our back – and the enemy knows it … If our warriors are forced to follow rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives so that international tribunals feel better about themselves, aren’t we just better off winning our wars according to our own rules?!".[67]

COVID-19

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In February 2020, amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Hegseth said that Democrats were "rooting for coronavirus to spread. They're rooting for it to grow. They're rooting for the problem to get worse."[39] The next month, Hegseth urged healthy people to get the virus to build immunity.[81] In May 2020, during an appearance with Tucker Carlson he defended calling the SARS-CoV-2 the "Wuhan virus, Chinese virus, maybe even the ‘Kung Flu.’ A little off-color, but funny and you know, we still live in a free country the last time I checked."[78] Hegseth suggested the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was made up by Democrats to help them in the 2022 midterm elections, saying, "Count on a variant about every October, every two years."[82]

January 6 Capitol attack

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Hegseth has defended the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling them patriots who had been "re-awoken to the reality of what the left has done" to the country. He has defended January 6 figure Jacob Chansley in particular. He has also said that only a handful of military personnel had been at the attack.[83] In fact, nearly 20% of defendants charged in relation to the attack, and about 12% of the participants in general, were current or former members of the U.S. military.[84][85]

Sexual assault allegation

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In October 2017, a woman told police in Monterey, California, that Hegseth had sexually assaulted her in a hotel room.[86]

The woman told police that she was with Hegseth at the hotel bar, where "things got fuzzy" and, she said, a drug may have been slipped into her drink.[87][88][89] She told police she remembered "being in an unknown room with Hegseth",[89] who took away her phone and blocked her efforts to leave.[90] She told police she "remembered saying 'no' a lot"[90][91][92] and that Hegseth had sex with her.[93] She told police that she did not recall the incident for several days, after which she went to the emergency room for a rape kit test,[93] whereupon the police started an investigation.[87][89][94] Hegseth told police that he did have sex with the woman but that it was consensual.[94][95] The police referred the matter to Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni, who declined to press charges, saying, "No charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt".[87][94] A civil lawsuit was threatened and in 2020, Hegseth paid the woman as part of a non-disclosure agreement.[95][9] In November 2024, Tim Parlatore, a lawyer for Hegseth, later said his client "felt that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage" and paid only because he feared for his career.[96]

The allegations, police report, and non-disclosure agreement came to public notice in November 2024, after Trump announced his intention to nominate Hegseth as U.S. defense secretary.[86][89][97]

Personal life

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In 2004, Hegseth married his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, who was his high school girlfriend from Minnesota; they divorced in 2009 after he admitted to multiple infidelities.[9] In 2010 he married his second wife, Samantha Deering; they have three children. In August 2017, while still married to Samantha, Hegseth had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet.[25] In September 2017, Samantha filed for divorce, which took ten months to finalize.[98] Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019.[99]

In 2018, during Hegseth's divorce proceedings from his second wife, his mother Penelope Hegseth sent him an email criticizing his treatment of women. The email stated: "You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth...It's time for a someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behavior and call it out, especially against women."[100] The New York Times published this email in November 2024 after Trump announced his intention to nominate Hegseth to be defense secretary.[101] When interviewed about the email, Penelope Hegseth told the Times she had written it "in anger, with emotion" and had "immediately apologized in a separate email," adding that her previous characterization had "never been true."[102]

Hegseth lives in Tennessee. He is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship,[103] a church in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.[104][105]

Hegseth has several tattoos, among them a Jerusalem cross on his chest, and one reading "Deus Vult", a Latin phrase meaning "God wills it" on his bicep.[106]

Books

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Hegseth's books include:

  • Hegseth, Pete (2016). In the Arena. Threshold Editions. ISBN 978-1-4767-4934-1.[107]
  • Hegseth, Pete (2020). American Crusade. Center Street. ISBN 978-1-5460-9874-4.
  • Hegseth, Pete (2022). Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation. Broadside Books. ISBN 978-0-06-321504-7.
  • Hegseth, Pete (2024). The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free. Broadside Books. ISBN 978-0-0633-8942-7.

Hegseth wrote the foreword to the 2017 book The Case Against the Establishment (ISBN 978-1-6826-1474-7) by Nick Adams and Dave Erickson.[108]

Awards, decorations, and badges

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  Combat Infantryman Badge
Bronze Star (x2)
  Joint Service Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal (x2)
  National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with 2 service stars)
Iraq Campaign Medal (with 2 service stars)
  Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
  Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
  Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with bronze hourglass device)
  Army Service Ribbon
  Army Overseas Service Ribbon
  NATO Medal (ISAF)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Meet Pete Hegseth's parents! | Fox News Video". Fox News. May 12, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Bickerton, James (November 13, 2024). "Pete Hegseth appointment sparks military fury: "Beyond stupid"". Newsweek. Archived from the original on November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Lyon, Tim (November 13, 2024). "Minnesota Background Of Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary Pick". AM 1240 WJON. Archived from the original on November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Veteran Pete Hegseth enters GOP race against Amy Klobuchar". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Associated Press. February 21, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  5. ^ Esther (October 3, 2018). "MyHeritage DNA Reveal on Fox and Friends". MyHeritage Blog. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Riese, Clint (February 15, 2012). "Hegseth weighing U.S. Senate bid". The Forest Lake Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  7. ^ "Trump selects Pete Hegseth '03 for Secretary of Defense". The Princetonian. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Catanese, David (March 6, 2012). "Pete Hegseth's Princeton files". Politico. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mayer, Jane (December 1, 2024). "Pete Hegseth's Secret History". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  10. ^ Princeton University Athletic Communications, ed. (March 8, 2003). "Hegseth Sparks Rally, Leads Men's Hoops To 44-40 Win". Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  11. ^ Schultz, Bob (August 27, 2008). "Meet Pete Hegseth". Journal Gazette & Times-Courier. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  12. ^ "Princeton makes Sweet 16 for first time since 1967". Fox and Friends. Fox News. March 24, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  13. ^ Wittry, Andy (May 8, 2020). "2001 NCAA Tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, rounds". Men's Basketball. Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  14. ^ Padilla, Cathy (February 4, 2019). "Pete Hegseth: Fighting the War for American Values". Community Magazine. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  15. ^ Chandrasekaran, Rajiv (June 1, 2013). "Small Veterans Group Advocates for Military Spending Cuts". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  16. ^ Rowland, Kara. "Pete Hegseth – Bio, News, Photos". Washington Times. Retrieved April 6, 2017.[dead link]
  17. ^ Samuels, Brett; Mastrangelo, Dominick (November 12, 2024). "Trump taps Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary". The Hill. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  18. ^ "Honor Our Heroes". KTAR. 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Hegseth, Pete (2024). The war on warriors: behind the betrayal of the men who keep us free. New York City: Fox News Books. ISBN 978-0-06-338942-7. OCLC 1435862129.
  20. ^ a b "Trump Pentagon pick had been flagged by fellow service member as possible 'Insider Threat'". Associated Press News. November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Bickerton, James (November 13, 2024). "Pete Hegseth was removed from Biden's inauguration, labeled 'extremist'". Newsweek. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  22. ^ Garrett, Alexandra (January 19, 2021). "National Guard Members Removed From Inauguration Security". Newsweek. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  23. ^ Carless, Will. "Trump defense pick says he was pulled from inauguration duty for 'extremist' tattoo". USA Today. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  24. ^ Mackey, Maureen (June 4, 2024). "New book 'The War on Warriors' by Pete Hegseth highlights a patriot's concerns about a 'woke' military". Fox News. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
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