The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has nominated Pete Hegseth as the new Secretary of Defense of his next administration, which will begin on January 20 when he takes office.
Hegseth, 44, has served as host of the popular “Fox & Friends Weekend” program on Fox News, the network in which he has collaborated since 2014. It was as a result of this work that, according to some American media, he has maintained a friendship with Trump, a regular guest on the show.
The magnate had considered it for his first government in 2016, but it has not been until now that his proposal has been formalized. Its confirmation still depends on the Senate, with a Republican majority, which will likely give the green light to the proposal.
The role of the Secretary of Defense
When he takes office, Hegseth will have one of the most influential departments in Donald Trump’s cabinet under his power, as he will be the one who supervises and directs the different commands of the US Army, one of the most powerful on the planet. .
“The Secretary of Defense is the person who sits next to the president when there is a military crisis there in the situation roomwhich is the room where wars are controlled. He is alongside the senior military advisors, but the final voice of the Department of Defense is the secretary. That is, he receives orders from the president and is the one who issues the pertinent orders to his generals,” he explained to the Voice of America Rafael Peñalver, expert in Constitutional Law.
For his part, Dr. Evan Ellis, an expert in International Relations and professor of Latin American Studies at the US War College, recalled that the person who occupies a position of this type must be “trustworthy” to the president of the United States. because “he must keep all the secrets of the nation.”
“The Secretary of Defense not only has technical secrets, but also knows first-hand the location of the forces and other types of things,” he added in this regard.
Author of several books on the armed forces
The recent nominee for the Defense portfolio has written several books, some of them financed by the publisher of the conservative television network, in which he addresses some issues in the military field in the United States.
Former President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Pete Hegseth, highlighting his work The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free (“The war against the warriors who keep us free”in Spanish), a book in which Hegseth delves into the situation of members of the US armed forces and the lack of support they face upon returning to civilian life.
Trump praised the book’s success, noting its notable performance on the world’s best-seller list. The New York Times, where It spent nine weeks on this list, two of them at first place.
Military career
Pete Hegseth has had a significant career in the military and political activism, although his experience does not reach the levels of national security or high-ranking military leadership that some experts consider crucial for certain positions in the federal government.
After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, Hegseth joined the Army National Guard as an infantry officer, with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, giving him a first-hand perspective on the realities of the war and military service.
In the political arena, Hegseth led Concerned Veterans for America, an organization funded by the Koch brothers, influential figures in the American conservative movement. His role in this non-profit entity allowed him to gain visibility among veterans and political leaders.
In 2012, he ran for a seat in the Minnesota Senate, although he was unsuccessful on that occasion. Furthermore, in his biography on Fox News, it is mentioned that he has a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, reinforcing his training in public management.
Hegseth caught the attention of former President Donald Trump, who considered him to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in his first administration (2017-2021), first during his team’s election in 2016 and again in 2018, when David Shulkin was facing harsh criticism. before his departure from office.
Sued on his TV show
Pete Hegseth has been involved in some controversies in recent years, related precisely to the military field. According to the agency The Associated Presswas sued in 2015 for hitting a US Army sergeant in the arm after an erratic ax throw during the broadcast of his television show.
The moment was captured by the cameras of the program Fox News and in the video you can see how the ax flies until it hits Jeffrey Prosperie, a member of the West Point Hellcats orchestra.
However, the case was dismissed by the plaintiff, as confirmed by his lawyer in an email this Wednesday. “The parties have resolved the matter and will not be commenting further,” he said.
The role of women in war
Recently, and before her nomination as a member of Trump’s new cabinet was officially announced, Hegseth questioned the role of women in combat.
“Men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means the casualties are worse. I am clearly saying that we should not have women in combat roles. “It has not made us more effective, it has not made us more lethal, it has made fighting more complicated,” he noted during an interview on the podcast The Shawn Ryan Show.
In favor of pardoning those accused of war crimes
He has also shown himself willing to pardon members of the US military who have been accused of war crimes. In fact, in 2019 he urged then-President Donald Trump to do so. He even addressed some of the cases on his television program and argued that these pardons “would be incredible” if they became effective.
That same year, Trump pardoned a former commander who was to be tried for the murder of an alleged Afghan bomb maker and a lieutenant convicted of murder after ordering his crew to shoot three Afghans, killing two.
He will assume leadership of the Pentagon at a critical moment
His arrival coincides with an increase in tensions on several fronts: the war between Russia and Ukraine continues without a clear resolution, while attacks by Iran’s allies intensify in the Middle East, and pressure grows for a ceasefire between Israel. and extremist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Furthermore, the strengthening of the alliance between Russia and North Korea keeps the international community on alert.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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