Trump Nominates Fox News Host Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense
One of the Fox & Friends may have a new job … in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Trump on Tuesday said that he intends to nominate Fox & Friends weekend host Pete Hegseth to be his Secretary of Defense, one of the most important cabinet positions in his administration.
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A Fox News source tells The Hollywood Reporter that Hegseth’s time with the company ends today, his last show was this past weekend.
“Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on Fox & Friends and Fox Nation and a best-selling author for Fox News Books for nearly a decade,” a Fox News spokesperson says. “His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at Fox News and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country,” Trump said in a statement. “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
“Pete has been a host at FOX News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our Military and Veterans,” the statement continued. “Pete’s recent book, ‘The War on Warriors,’ spent nine weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE. The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our Warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”
Hegseth is an Army veteran, and joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014, and was officially named co-host of the weekend edition of the morning show in 2017 after filling in as a co-host the previous year. He has also hosted the Fox Nation Patriot Awards every year since they were created in 2019, honoring everyday heroes. Hegseth will not host this year’s awards, which are set to be held next month on Long Island.
Trump has previously hired some former Fox talent in his previous administration, though none in as high a profile role as Defense Secretary. Former Fox News correspondent Heather Nauert would go on to work for the State Department, first as a spokesperson and then as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Former Fox News executive Bill Shine also joined the White House to work as an assistant to the President. And some former Fox contributors and commentators, including Anthony Scaramucci, John Bolton and Mercedes Schlapp, would also have roles in the White House, with Bolton having the most senior role as National Security Adviser.
Former Fox contributor Mike Huckabee was also named to be his ambassador to Israel.
At the same time as the Hegseth announcement, Trump also revealed that he’d be partnering with Elon Musk and former GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy on an initiative titled Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE,” in an apparent nod to “dogecoin” jokes that Musk has made) that would be aimed at restructuring bureaucracy.
Trump stated of the “DOGE” initiative, “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
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