President-elect
Donald Trump
on Tuesday named Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and military veteran, as his pick for defense secretary.
In a
statement
, Trump described Hegseth as “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,” Trump said.
During his first administration, Trump nominated James Mattis and later Mark Esper to lead the Pentagon.
Mattis
resigned in December 2018
, and suggested in a letter stepping down from the post that he and Trump differed in their views on “treating our allies with respect” and being “clear-eyed” on U.S. adversaries and competitors.
Trump
fired Esper
in 2020
a
fter
disagreements
that included the use of active-duty troops to quell nationwide racial justice protests that year following the murder of George Floyd.
The Hegseth announcement comes amid a flurry of Trump picks for his second administration. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he would nominate former Director of National Intelligence
John Ratcliffe to be CIA director
.
On Monday, he tapped Rep.
Elise Stefanik
, R-N.Y., as his pick for U.N. ambassador, and said he would nominate
Lee Zeldin
, a former House Republican from New York, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
A day earlier, he named immigration hard-liner
Tom Homan
as his “border czar.”
Trump’s first major administration announcement came last week when he said
Susie Wiles
, his campaign manager, would be White House chief of staff.
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