“An atmosphere of total chaos”

“There is an atmosphere of total chaos. No one knows where the leaks come from, and nothing is real until Trump announces it. » A journalist from Washington Post collected this statement from a collaborator of Donald Trump, who was surprised by the accelerated pace of the president-elect’s nominations and his choices themselves. Some members of Trump’s entourage were particularly surprised by the selection of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of Homeland Security. “What does she know about FEMA?” What does she know about Homeland Security? She’s the governor of South Dakota! “, confided to Post another Trump adviser on condition of anonymity.

But the nomination that caused the greatest astonishment in Trump’s entourage was that of Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. If confirmed by the Senate, the 44-year-old former Army major and Harvard and Princeton graduate will oversee 2.8 million people, including active duty personnel, and a budget of more than 900 billion dollars. He would be the least experienced and least qualified head of the Pentagon in the history of this institution.

“Hegseth had interviewed for the job over the previous 24 hours, and many Trump advisers did not consider him a likely candidate until Monday, said one adviser who, like the others, spoke under the cover of anonymity in order to be able to freely discuss the conversations,” said the Post.

From his perch at Fox News, where he co-hosts the weekend morning show, Hegseth, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, has already created a stir at the Pentagon by defending soldiers accused of war crimes. One of them had shot an Afghan civilian and burned his body to cover up the murder. Trump finished granting him a presidential pardon at the instigation of the Fox News host.

In an interview with a podcast host last week, Hegseth said a defense secretary’s priority should be to fire “woke” generals and admirals, starting with Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chief of staff of the American armed forces.

“Any general, admiral or otherwise” involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programs “or woke shit needs to go,” he said after pointing the finger at General Brown.

General Brown became the first African-American chief of staff of the Air Force under Trump before succeeding, under Joe Biden, General Mark Milley as chief of staff of the armed forces . He was criticized by some conservatives after releasing a video after the killing of George Floyd in which he addressed the issue of racism within the military.

Hegseth also criticized the Obama administration’s 2015 decision to drop gender-based restrictions and allow women to serve in direct combat positions.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has already announced her intention to oppose Hegseth’s nomination. “A co-host of Fox & Friends is not qualified to be secretary of defense. I lead the Senate Expert Panel on Military Personnel. My three brothers served in the army. I respect each of our soldiers. The choice of Donald Trump will make us less safe and must be rejected,” she wrote on X.

(Photo AP)