Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he intended to appoint as Minister of Defense Pete Hegseth, former major in the American army and current presenter on Fox News, the favorite channel of conservatives in the United States.
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“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – our armed forces will rise to greatness again and America will never back down,” the president-elect said in a statement.
If his appointment is confirmed by the Senate, Pete Hegseth, at the age of 44, will take charge of the most powerful armed forces on the planet.
As a member of the U.S. National Guard, this infantry officer was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he earned two prestigious Bronze Star medals, according to his official website.
He joined Fox News as a consultant in 2014 and today co-hosts the popular show Fox and Friends on weekends. He is also a presenter on the channel’s streaming service, Fox Nation.
Pete Hegseth is the author of several essays, one of which is entitled The War on Warriors, which, according to Donald Trump’s statement, “reveals the left’s betrayal of our warriors and how we must return our armed forces to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence.”
According to the American press, the presenter was approached, during Donald Trump’s first term, to obtain the veterans’ portfolio, but was ultimately not selected.
This time around, he is set to take over a ministry with more than 3.4 million troops and civilian employees.
Pete Hegseth is “tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” the president-elect said on social media.
According to the Washington Postin 2019, Pete Hegseth managed to convince Donald Trump to pardon two soldiers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.
A graduate of the prestigious universities of Princeton and Harvard, Pete Hegseth, however, claims on his site that he returned his diploma to the latter: in his show, he criticized the University for its supposed left-wing leanings.
He lives with his wife and seven children in Tennessee, a conservative state in the southern United States.
