President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.
Hegseth was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012 before joining Fox News.
“Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America first,” Trump said in a statement.
The appointment comes after former Democratic congresswoman and Trump ally Tulsi Gabbard said she wanted the job.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice: our military will be great again and America will never go backwards,” Trump added.
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.
“Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America first,” Trump said in a statement.
“No one fights harder for troops, and Pete will be a brave and patriotic defender of our ‘Peace Through Strength’ policy.”
“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 Media spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘His ideas and analysis, especially on the military, resonated deeply with our viewers and made the show the biggest hit it is today. “We are very proud of his work at FOX News Media and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
Trump is rolling out a steady stream of appointees and nominees for his next administration, working so far at a faster pace and without as much drama as in his first transition after his 2016 victory.
Hegseth, 44, co-hosts Fox News Channel’s ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ and has been with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
He is also the author of ‘The War Against Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.’
Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
He previously was head of Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.
This is a developing story.
