A Fox News commentator and veteran announced as new defense secretary

13 November, 2024 Pete Hegseth at Fox News. Photo from the official website U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has picked Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and veteran, as his secretary of defense. Reuters reported on this. If confirmed by the U.S.

Senate, Hegseth could make good on Trump's campaign promises to rid the U.S. military of generals he accuses of pursuing progressive policies on diversity in the ranks that conservatives have rallied against. Trump, announcing his decision, praised Hegseth, who is an Army National Guard veteran and, according to his website, served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First," Trump stated.

Pete Hegseth in service.

Photo from the official website

"With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down." While Hegseth has articulated only limited policy positions in the past, he has railed against NATO allies for being weak and said that China is on the verge of dominating its neighbors. The Voice of America journalist Ostap Yarysh wrote on X about Hegseth's views on Ukraine:

"In February, four days after the full-scale invasion, Hegseth stated that the events in Ukraine were important, but they 'pale in comparison to the crime in my streets, to the liberalism in my culture, to the inflation in my pockets'." Later, in the first weeks of the invasion, he called Putin a war criminal who wanted to restore the USSR and advocated for speeding up aid to Kyiv. "To provide Ukraine with what it needs faster than we are doing.

The Biden administration is not doing it fast enough for Ukrainians to defeat Putin and push him back."

Later, in an interview, Pete Hegseth called the idea that Russia might attack other countries in Europe after Ukraine "inflated" and described Putin's motives for invading Ukraine as "I want my shit back."