Fox News host and Forest Lake native Pete Hegseth tapped as defense secretary

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump moved to build out his national security team Tuesday, announcing he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.

Hegseth, 44, who grew up in Forest Lake, Minn., is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.

He also championed the case of four former Blackwater contractors convicted in a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. They were pardoned by Trump in one of his final acts in office.

If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year, and has been outspoken about rooting out what he has called “woke-ness” in the military.

The book, according to its promo, combines “his own war experiences, tales of outrage, and an incisive look at how the chain of command got so kinked,” and bills itself as “the key to saving our warriors — and winning future wars.”

According to Minnesota Star Tribune archives, after graduating from Forest Lake High School, Hegseth went on to Princeton University, where he also played basketball. After serving three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard, including as a senior instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul, Hegseth went on to serve as executive director of the conservative interest group, Vets for Freedom, and as an analyst for Fox News.

In 2012, Hegseth sought the state GOP’s endorsement to run against Democratic incumbent Amy Klobuchar.

“War has taught me, repeatedly, some very, very important lessons,” Hegseth told the Star Tribune, “among them that time is precious and what we have in this country is worth fighting for.”

Then 31, Hegseth had not run for public office before. He was only a year over the age requirement to run for the U.S. Senate.

“I know I’m 31 years of age and that’s a young age to run for the United States Senate, but I think 18-year-olds have some good ideas, I think 65-year-olds have some good ideas. And I think some 51-year-olds don’t have good ideas,” he said.

His campaign would be short-lived, as he failed to secure the Republican nomination.

While the Pentagon is considered a key coveted post in any administration, the defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump’s first term. Five men held the job during his four years only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as a stopgap. Just two of them were actually confirmed by the Senate.

Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they weren’t prepared to explain or defend. Many of the generals who worked in his first administration — both on active duty and retired — have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval Office, and he has condemned them in return.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

Hegseth has “an excellent background as a junior officer but does not have the senior national security experience that secretaries need,” said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him.” Cancian said the lack of experience might make it more difficult for Hegseth to get through Senate confirmation.

In a flurry of announcements Tuesday, Trump said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East. Trump also said he would nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security and named Bill McGinley, his Cabinet secretary in his first administration, as his White House counsel.

Trump is rolling out a steady stream of appointees and nominees for his upcoming administration, working thus far at a faster pace and without as much drama as his first transition following his 2016 victory. His selection of Hegseth, who lacks senior military or national security experience, was sure to draw questions about his qualifications to lead the department.

Material from Star Tribune reporter Nicole Norfleet and Star Tribune files were used in this report.