Pentagon officials are "shocked" and "alarmed" by President-elect Donald Trump's decision to nominate Fox News anchor and veteran Pete Hegseth as U.S. defense secretary, Politico reported on Nov. 13.
Trump named Hegseth the incoming U.S. defense secretary on Nov. 12. If approved by Congress, Hegseth will replace current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.
Hegseth would lead 1.3 million troops and over 750,000 civilians, hold meetings with U.S. allies, and develop options for strikes against the Islamic State and Iranian proxies, according to Politico.
The Pentagon is concerned that while Hegseth has military experience, he has never run a large organization, Politico reported, citing six undisclosed current and former Pentagon officials.
"Would you trust him to run Walmart?" said a former Defense Department official. "Because that's how many employees we have."
"Folks are shocked," said a current Defense Department official. "He's just a Fox News personality that’s never worked in the government."
The sources, who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity, doubt that Hegseth will be able to manage "a complex bureaucratic system" like the Pentagon.
"It's a deadly serious job, and this strikes me as a mainly performative person who is best known for talking about wokeness and not doing anything meaningful on national security post serving in the military," said another Defense Department official.
"It is a massive bureaucracy, you have to understand how that works to support national security around the globe," the official added. "It is tedious and challenging, and it is not at all related to getting on Fox News and pontificating."
According to current and former officials, the appointment of Hegseth could "scare off" candidates for over 80 other positions in the department that the Senate approves.
Several foreign diplomats told the media they rushed to order Hegseth's latest book online after his nomination, as allies tried to get to know a man "they had never heard of and had no idea what his priorities might be."
Hegseth, 44, previously served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, doing multiple tours of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Hegseth is the former head of the conservative organization Concerned Veterans for America and, in June 2024, released a book titled "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free."
Hegseth also unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota in 2012.
Up until Nov. 12, Hegseth co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend, a morning news and talk show that Trump would call into regularly. Hegseth has also appeared as a regular contributor to the Fox News Channel, a U.S. network with a strong conservative bent.
Oleg Sukhov
