Pete Hegseth

"When you send Americans to war, their mandate should be to lethally dominate the battlefield. If that makes you uneasy, keep us at home."

"But if we’re going to send our boys to fight—and it should be boys—we need to unleash them to win. They need them to be the most ruthless. The most uncompromising. The most overwhelmingly lethal as they can be. We must break the enemy’s will. Our troops will make mistakes, and when they do, they should get the overwhelming benefit of the doubt."

"And one more thing . . . the next president should also change the name of the Department of Defense back to the War Department. Sure, our military defends us. And in a perfect world it exists to deter threats and preserve peace. But ultimately its job is to conduct war. We either win or lose wars. And we have warriors, not “defenders.” Bringing back the War Department may remind a few people in Washington, DC, what the military is supposed to do, and do well."

"When we lose sight of the fact that the primary responsibility of the president of the United States is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, then everything else falls apart."

"To that end, you are blessed to have been born in the greatest country in human history. You have all studied history, extensively. There have been kingdoms, empires, tyrants, and tribes over thousands of years—but none like America."

"But we only got this far because men and women—but mostly men—were willing to fight for that freedom, with their “lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.”"

"It’s up to you to decide if service to country is still worth it."

"Even with those questions—and even with all the uncertainty—I hope you join the ranks of American fighting men. I encourage you to serve, asking yourself this simple question: If not me, then who? If not Gunner, Jackson, Boone, Luke, or Rex Hegseth—who is going to protect America? Are you going to rely on other men, or on women, who have other worldviews to fill the ranks?"

"Pete has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and (used to have) a master’s degree from Harvard University—but he mailed it back, because Harvard is a leftist indoctrination camp."

"We're going to go on offense, not just on defense, maximum lethality, not tepid legality, violent effect, not politically correct."

"It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world. [...] It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of War can do regular, hard PT [physical training], so can every member of our joint force. [...] Today, at my direction, every member of the joint force, at every rank, is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year, every year of service."

"We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. Their war on Americans has become our retribution against their ayatollah and his death cult. It took the 47th president, a fighter who always puts America first, to finally draw the line after 47 years of Iranian belligerence. He reminded the world, as he has time and time again, being an American means something unbreakable. If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation and we will kill you."

"This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be, death and destruction from the sky, all day long."

"The world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump: Thank you."

"Pete Hegseth is a New York Times bestselling author and the cohost of FOX & Friends Weekend- America's number one cable morning show. He is also the host of multiple FOX Nation documentaries, including The MisEducation of America. Pete is an army combat veteran and proud father of seven children."

"In these serious times, we need a serious candidate to lead our military. We need someone with merit to lead our meritocracy. Someone with moral strength to be in charge of protecting our national strength. Our troops deserve better than a guy who was seemingly only nominated because he used to host Trump’s favorite show on Fox News. Pete Hegseth is unqualified. He is unprepared. He is unethical. And most of all, he is unfit. The Secretary of Defense oversees the federal government’s largest agency. They manage a $900 billion budget, along with the 3 million servicemembers and civilians who fall under its umbrella. During his time in uniform, Pete Hegseth never commanded a unit with more than 200 personnel. Meanwhile, on the civilian side, both organizations he led went into debt. In fact, he so badly mismanaged one of them that they had to bring in a forensic accountant to clean up the mess he had made. Who knows why Donald Trump picked this guy. Maybe Hegseth’s business failures make Trump feel better about his own bankruptcies. Maybe it’s because Hegseth spent years fawning over Trump on Fox News—and Trump’s dream Cabinet is a bunch of yes-men who know how to kiss up to him on TV. Or maybe it’s just that all of Cadet Bone Spurs’ draft-dodging has left him with no clue what kind of leader our military needs. At his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, I gave Mr. Hegseth every opportunity to show me that I was wrong. To prove that he could do this job. That he does know the first thing—or anything—about what it takes to take on this massive responsibility. I asked him basic questions that even the most junior folks working in the Pentagon would know, like naming one of the main international agreements he’d be responsible for leading. He couldn’t name one. I asked him to tell me just a single country in ASEAN. Again, he couldn’t give me one. Not one. This was shocking—yet not surprising—from a man whose main form of policy education has come from reading the Fox News teleprompter. These are dangerous times on the geopolitical stage. Our adversaries are watching to see if we really will put in power someone so obviously unqualified. And Mr. Hegseth made a point of saying at Tuesday’s hearing that every single warfighter should be hired based on performance, readiness and merit. I agree. And he fails to meet every single one of those metrics. Part of being a leader is knowing when you’re not competent enough to do the job. Mr. Hegseth, you are not technically proficient. You are not tactically proficient. And your nomination is an insult to those brave enough to be serving our nation."

"Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness. In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” and in subsequent media promotions this year, Hegseth described both the original “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy and its repeal in 2011 as a “gateway” and a “camouflage” for broader cultural changes that he claims have undermined military cohesion and effectiveness. In a 2015 appearance on Fox News, Hegseth also argued these policies like repealing DADT “erode standards” in favor of political goals like social engineering. DADT was implemented under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and allowed gay people and lesbians to serve in the military — provided they did not disclose their sexuality. Military officials were also barred from asking military members their sexual orientation. If a troop’s orientation came to light, it could lead to their discharge. The policy was repealed during the Obama administration, allowing openly gay service members."

"In his book, Hegseth wrote he was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan when the repeal of DADT was put into effect. “Our commander briefed the unit, peppered with a few jokes,” he wrote. “You know, infantry stuff. We mostly laughed it off and moved on. America was at war. Gays and lesbians were already serving in the military. I had seen the enemy with my own eyes. We needed everybody.” Hegseth says he now regrets that view, “Not because I have a newfound ax to grind with gay Americans,” he wrote. “But because I naïvely believed that’s what ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was all about. Once again, our good faith was used against us,” he added. “The Left never gives an inch, and always takes a mile.” Hegseth has been outspoken about what he calls “woke” policies that he believes have undermined the US military, including allowing women to serve in combat roles and transgender members to serve openly. Hegseth writes these changes are the consequence of the “social justice tinkering” that started with DADT."

"Speaking on Fox News in 2015, Hegseth expanded on his criticism, claiming that such policies were an erosion of standards. “And what you’re seeing is a military right now that is more interested in social engineering led by this president than they are in war fighting,” he said in comments first reported by Meidas News. “So as a result, through ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and women in the military and these standards, they’re going to inevitably start to erode standards because they want that one female special operator, that one female Green Beret, that one female Army Ranger, that one female Navy SEAL.” “So they can put them on a recruiting poster and feel good about themselves and has nothing to do with national security,” he added. “And these war fighters are realizing they’re just going to start ticking away at the standards until they get one.” Hegseth in his book does not reference any specific examples of incidents to support his argument that gay individuals openly serving has been detrimental to the military."

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth really wants you to think he’s a tough guy. The former Fox News host and reported makeup-studio enthusiast is forever bragging out how brave and manly he is, with a length and volume that screams “overcompensation” to anyone actually possessing internal fortitude. With his perfectly coiffed hair and belligerent posture, Hegseth has long made it clear that his idea of “strength” is strictly a matter of showmanship. He eschews the term “soldier” in favor of “warfighter.” He rejects the term “defense” in favor of “lethality.” He even tried to rename the Defense Department the “Department of War,” which is the bureaucratic equivalent of buying an oversized pickup because your wife left you for her spin instructor. He forced the military’s top brass to sit still for a lecture about the “warrior ethos,” convened for no other apparent reason than Hegseth’s adolescent desire to pretend that he’s Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.” He goes on and on about his imaginary “male standard” or “male-level” fitness ideals, mostly because women don’t fit his image of what “warfighters” look like, which seems entirely drawn from the G.I. Joe figurines he played with as a child. He was pushed out of the Army, quitting of his own accord because of too much perceived wokeness. As defense secretary, he’s been systematically trying to purge all women who have performed their military duties beyond his capablities. Heaven forbid he endure reminders that many female members of the species are stronger and more capable than he could ever imagine being."

"To be clear, real men of courage are not intimidated by women’s success. Hegseth’s hostility to female service members has always served as a leading indicator that beneath all that bluster the man is a sniveling coward. The growing scandal over his role in killing civilians in boats off the coast of Venezuela confirms his lily-livered nature beyond all doubt. The model of masculinity offered by MAGA, from Donald Trump on down, has always been one of inadequate men pretending at greatness, but only a few are as laughably obvious as Pete Hegseth, a man whose every bellowed word bespeaks an unsubtle small-D energy that fuels him. To recap: For months now, the Trump administration has been arbitrarily killing civilians in boats off the coast of Venezuela, justifying these extrajudicial attacks with accusations that everyone on such a boat is a drug dealer, although administration officials prefer to use overblown and meaningless terms like “narcoterrorist,” betraying the insecurity of their position. Killing accused drug dealers is almost certainly illegal in itself, and the administration has offered no meaningful evidence to back up its accusations, even as it becomes evident that the real goal is to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to resign. (Maduro is a dictatorial strongman who rigged the last presidential election, facts that would impress Trump under other circumstances. He also identifies as an anti-American leftist, making him No. 1 villain for the MAGA crowd.) The Washington Post reported this week that in one such attack on Sept. 2, U.S. forces launched a second missile to kill survivors of the initial strike, which would be a war crime at best and likely just straight-up murder."

"Hegseth is the classic bully, hiding his insecurity by dominating those who are weaker or more vulnerable, and pretending that’s cool instead of pitiful. During his Senate confirmation hearing, reports circulated that Hegseth had been accused of rape, in a case settled out of court. Whether that was true never really mattered, since rape allegations would make Trump more likely to nominate someone to high office, not less. Still, the details are worth revisiting. The accuser in that incident said she had been too drunk to resist Hegseth’s alleged assault. Rape is a cowardly crime no matter what, most often committed by men who are afraid to pick on someone their own size. Selecting a victim who is too incapacitated to defend herself is unfortunately common, which makes the masculine preening of men who commit these kinds of crimes even more ludicrous. Hegseth has denied that allegation, but his entire adult life has been defined by a tendency to brag about how strong he is while running away from anything that resembles a real challenge. He’s on his third marriage at the moment, and belongs to a church that preaches an especially extreme doctrine of female submission. You don’t need a degree in psychology to understand that only weaker men crave women trained not to talk back, because they’re incapable of handling a mutual relationship based on adult communication."

"Hegseth’s brief tenure at the Pentagon has been dominated by his quivering inability to deal with any kind of challenge or discomfort. He’s tried to purge all military schools and libraries of any historical information that might makes him feel icky, such as reminders that racism exists or that slavery was a bad thing. I’m sure he can do push-ups, as he constantly brags. But the real test of someone’s mettle isn’t how ripped they are but whether they can handle the complexities of a world that hasn’t been sculpted to shield their egos. Even by MAGA standards, Hegseth is the most delicate of snowflakes. Indeed, Secretary Warfighter’s need for constant coddling is being ever more severely exposed as this scandal unfolds. As the Washington Post reported this week, Hegseth is now hiding behind the skirts of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She’s an accomplished liar, but has been reading carefully crafted statements that redirect the blame for the Sept. 2 killings to Bradley and insist, without offering any evidence, that everything Hegseth did was legal. “This is ‘protect Pete’ bull—,” as one anonymous military official told the Post. Operation “Protect Pete” seems like a fitting description of this guy’s entire career of evading accountability. Perhaps he should make that his next tattoo, so he can brag about how much the needle hurt while ducking any consequences that might truly sting."

"A bombshell Washington Post investigation revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally ordered U.S. forces to “kill them all” during a September 2 maritime strike off the coast of Trinidad, an unprecedented escalation in America’s counter-drug operations and one that legal experts say may violate international law. According to officials with direct knowledge of the mission, U.S. special operations forces targeted a small vessel suspected of transporting narcotics. After the first missile strike destroyed the boat and killed most of the crew, observers reported seeing at least two survivors clinging to debris. Hegseth allegedly directed forces to launch a second strike to eliminate the remaining survivors, a move experts describe as potentially unlawful under long-standing rules of armed conflict, which prohibit killing combatants who are “hors de combat,” or out of the fight. The strike was not part of any declared war, raising even more questions about how the administration has justified such lethal operations. A Justice Department memo reportedly classifies drug trafficking networks as part of a “non-international armed conflict,” effectively granting the executive branch sweeping authority to kill suspected traffickers on the high seas. Critics argue that this interpretation is legally flimsy and dangerously broad."

"Human rights groups and former military lawyers warn the decision could set a precedent for unchecked lethal force far beyond U.S. borders. “If this stands, the U.S. is claiming the right to kill anyone, anywhere, based on secret intelligence and no transparency,” one legal expert told the Post. Hegseth took to his official social media account to respond and defend the strikes on Friday. He called the reports “fabricated” and framing the operations as lawful efforts to stop narco-terrorists and destroy drug-trafficking vessels, with all actions reviewed by military and civilian lawyers. He emphasized his support for the Southcom forces carrying out the missions. Members of Congress are now calling for hearings, though it remains unclear whether the Republican-controlled committees will challenge one of the administration’s most aggressive national-security operations to date. For now, the revelations leave the White House with mounting questions — and the families of the dead without answers."

"Who's Pete Hegseth?"

"A 2015 RAND Corporation survey found that 5.8% of active-duty service members identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 0.6% identified as transgender, reflecting a similar proportion to the civilian population. Still, a 2020 study in the journal “Sexuality Research and Social Policy” found that 59% of LGBTQ+ service members were uncomfortable being “out.” This October, the Pentagon updated more than 800 records of service members who were kicked out of the military under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to receive honorable discharges. The change now allows service members to access eligible benefits previously denied to them, such as home loans, healthcare and GI Bill tuition assistance. In an episode of “the Ben Shapiro Show” this summer, Hegseth claimed that “a lot of people” who initially supported the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” now regret their involvement in the policy change, citing one example of an anonymous gay soldier who says he now regrets supporting the repeal of DADT because it opened the door to a “trans agenda” in the military."

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show. Military-dot-com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk. A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement -- occurring during Pride month -- was intentional."

"Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House Speaker who represents much of San Francisco, in a statement Tuesday called the decision to rename the ship "a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country." The Harvey Milk is a John Lewis-class oiler, a group of ships that are to be named after prominent civil rights leaders and activists. CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad. Unlike the Milk, though, some of the ships being considered for renaming have yet to be completed. Pelosi called that possibility "a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream." "Our military is the most powerful in the world -- but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the 'warrior' ethos," she added."

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly supported his church’s Christian Nationalist pastor Doug Wilson, reposting a CNN interview in which Wilson says he’d like to re-criminalize consensual same-sex sexual encounters and deny women the right to vote. Hegseth has previously said that it was a mistake to allow homosexuals and bisexuals into the U.S. military. “In the late ’70s and early ’80s, sodomy was a felony in all 50 states. That America of that day was not a totalitarian hellhole,” Wilson tells CNN in the interview clip, which Hegseth reposted to his personal X account this past weekend. When asked if he’d like those laws to be reinstated, Wilson answers, “Yep.”"

"In a June 2024 episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, Hegseth said he thinks the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — the military’s ban on out lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members — was part of the “Marxist” and “leftist” shift that led to “the trans agenda being pushed into the military,” thus undermining the military’s overall effectiveness. While he later walked back his opposition to LGB military members at a Senate confirmation hearing the following December, he has since helped implement the current president’s purge of transgender military members, alluding to trans individuals as mentally ill, selfish, dishonorable, deceitful, undisciplined, and unfit for military service."

"Hegseth spent his college days at Princeton campaigning against LGBTQ+ rights. As publisher of the conservative magazine The Princeton Tory in the early 2000s, he oversaw a team that railed against the “homosexual lifestyle,” and in one 2002 issue, argued that “The movement to legitimize the homosexual lifestyle and homosexual marriages is strong and must be vigorously opposed.” It called homosexuality “abnormal and immoral.” In that same issue, Hegseth wrote in his “Notes from the Publisher” that the “glorification of diversity” is “a problem that plagues most of American academia today.” He said Western ideas “deserve priority over other areas of study” because the fact that the United States is a global superpower “demonstrates the[ir] enduring strength.” Another issue of The Princeton Tory published by Hegseth slammed the New York Times for its decision to start covering same-sex marriage announcements, calling it “dangerous” because it could inspire people to want to marry siblings, children, or dogs."

"FOX News alert: I am pro-Trump. Everybody knew that before I joined the DC National Guard, and didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, most of my fellow soldiers—even in DC—felt the same way. Frankly, so did most of the military—especially combat arms. President Trump was, and is, beloved by warfighters. He funded them, untied their hands, didn’t use them unnecessarily, and let them win."

"Speaking of “kill or capture,” the rules of engagement in Iraq in 2005 were complicated, confusing, and sometimes upside down. Different units had different policies, even though there was supposed to be one, uniform standard. Different unit missions, different leadership ethos, different areas of operation, and different enemy tactics equals lots of confusion. So upon arrival in Iraq, we were briefed by a judge advocate general (JAG)—an Army lawyer—regarding the latest “in theater” rules of engagement. Needless to say, no infantrymen like Army lawyers—which is why JAG officers are often not so affectionately known as “jagoffs.” There are some good ones out there, but most spend more time prosecuting our troops than they do putting away bad guys. It’s easier to get promoted that way."

"We waited, in darkness."

"Saint Augustine wrote in the classic City of God, over four hundred years after Christ’s death:"

"Jus ad bellum, established in the UN Charter after World War II, lays out the conditions under which states may resort to war. It’s how you go to war justly. Once the firing starts, modern countries are directed to follow the “laws of war,” referred to as Jus in bello. This is how you fight war justly. It was supposed to be a global remedy—a rulebook—to end senseless violence."

"World War I was so brutal, so unabashed, there was a clamoring for some formally imposed restrictions on what countries could do to each other. The Geneva Conventions became a Jus in bello international law of sorts. Limiting the barbarity of conflict between nations. Guaranteeing that a military force would wear a uniform. Honor a chain of command. The conventions post–World War I established what would happen if you surrendered on the battlefield. The conventions signed at Geneva were to make humane what was never thought of to be humane: warfare."

"I inoculate myself. Germs are not a real thing. I can't see them, therefore they're not real."

"If the world cannot agree on principles of honor or morality, how can we ever prescribe global terms of fair war? Land warfare, historically understood, is defined by how many people you can slaughter in one space, at one time—limiting the will and capacity of your enemy to fight. (Same goes for bombing, missiles, and drone strikes; just a different delivery mechanism.) War will never be anything but hell as long as human nature stays deceptive, vengeful, and angry. Much to the chagrin of utopians and progressives, human nature has not changed. And will not change. We are flawed. We are sinful. Men will always fight other men."

"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?! Who cares what other countries think. The question we have to ask ourselves is, if we are forced to fight, are we going to fight to win? Or will we fight to make leftists feel good—which means not wining [sic] and fighting forever."

"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? 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."

"History regards the Greatest Generation not for their poetry, artistic endeavors, or their culinary brilliance. That title was bestowed because they were two-time world war champions. They were great because they understood they were at war and that the consequence for losing the war was annihilation. They killed the enemy. Sometimes in ways that would offend modern sensibilities. Two nuclear bombs ended a war that could have dragged on for years, costing millions more American lives. They won. Who cares."

"For decades, the United States opposed any international-law presumption that “persons or objects in combat zones are civilians.” Especially in modern times, the battlefield is complex—and the enemy uses that against us. They never want to fight us toe to toe; civilians are central to their strategy."

"Should we follow the Geneva Conventions? What if we treated the enemy the way they treated us? Would that not be an incentive for the other side to reconsider their barbarism? Hey, Al Qaeda: If you surrender, we might spare your life. If you do not, we will rip your arms off and feed them to hogs. Makes me wonder, in 2024—if you want to win—how can anyone write universal rules about killing other people in open conflict? Especially against enemies who fight like savages, disregarding human life in every single instance. Maybe, instead, we are just fighting with one hand behind our back—and the enemy knows it."

"Said during a Senate hearing before becoming Secretary of Defense:"

"So this is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I'm doing it."

"About a bombing raid against Iran:"

"This book is dedicated to the real 1 percent: the warriors- past, present and future- who answered freedom's call."

"On 9/11 I was a college student. Those attacks on New York City, the Pentagon, and in the skies reoriented the trajectory of my life- and the lives of an entire generation."