TOI Correspondent from Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named a heavily-tattooed mid-level ex-soldier turned Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the in-coming defence secretary, as he continued to choose nominees from the MAGA right field for top jobs in his incoming administration.
Trump also named John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in during his first term, as CIA Director, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to serve as the US ambassador to Israel.
Hegseth and Ratcliffe have a strong anti-China orientation, and Huckabee is strongly pro-Israel to the extent he supports its claim over the entire West Bank which forms a large part of Palestine.
But it is Trump’s choice of 44-year-old Hegseth as defence secretary that jolted the capital, where the job has typically gone to traditional establishment veterans with deep expertise in military and strategic matters, including during his first term. He selected a four-star general, James Mattis and an Army secretary, Mark Esper, to lead the Pentagon. Mattis resigned and Esper was later fired, two casualties amid a heavy turnover during the Trump One administration.
Hegseth, a relative lightweight, is a fire-brand provocateur who served combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq as a captain and platoon leader, before cycling through think-tanks and advocacy groups, and finally becoming a Fox News host.
In fact, Trump critics noted that the only reason Hegseth is being tapped to be defence secretary is “because he’s on Fox News, and that’s what Donald Trump picks are based on.” Among several controversial remarks he has made in recent times is calling for the firing of so-called “woke generals” and opposing combat roles for women in the military.
He is also heavily tattooed, bearing several across his arms and chest, including one of the Jerusalem cross, which has perceived links to Christian nationalism. One tattoo emblazoned across his arm says “We The People” and on his bicep is the phrase “Deus Vult” — God Willing, a battlecry for Christians during the First Crusade.
But it is Hegseth’s remarks on China that will stir interest in capitals looking forward to Trump’s pledge of no wars. In one fiery podcast, he spoke of Washington being oblivious to China’s growing power while Beijing was explicitly building a military to defeat the United States. “The Pentagon runs perfect war game simulations. We lose every time to China… They’re building an army…We have our heads up our asses,” he said.
The choice of Hegseth for Defence and Ratcliffe for CIA also set at rest rampant speculation — and lobbying by their supporters — that former Democratic lawmaker turned Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard, and MAGA acolyte Kash Patel were respectively in line for the two jobs.