Pete Hegseth, the Fox host accused of sexual assault who wants to end diversity policies in the US military

The relationship between the future Secretary of Defense and the Pentagon promises to be, to say the least, explosive. Allegations have surfaced against the 44-year-old Fox News host, nominated by Donald Trump to lead the most powerful military in the world. He stands accused of sexually abusing a woman and paying to settle the case. Hegseth has also faced scrutiny over extremist views. A war veteran who is against women serving in combat roles, he is a staunch critic of diversity policies within the Armed Forces and plans to restructure the Department of Defense with blunt force. While Hegseth lacks experience in military management, he embodies the qualities Trump favors: a willingness to upend the status quo and, above all, unwavering loyalty.

Since Trump announced his appointment, it has been revealed that Hegseth was investigated in 2017 for alleged sexual assault against a woman at a conservative event in California, where he had been invited to speak. The woman, then 30, worked for the event organizers. No charges were filed, and Hegseth maintains the encounter was consensual. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the host paid an undisclosed amount to the woman after she signed a non-disclosure agreement, barring her from speaking about the incident.

Despite the allegations, the president-elect — who has also appointed Rep. Matt Gaetz, under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sex with minors, as attorney general — appears committed to his pick for Defense Secretary. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, responded: “Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense.”

In addition to the sexual assault accusation, it has recently come to light that Hegseth was part of the National Guard units deployed to protect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021. However, two days earlier, he was reportedly flagged as a potential extremist: he has a tattoo of a Jerusalem Cross and the motto Deus vult (“God wills it” in Latin). These symbols are historically associated with medieval crusaders, but have been adopted by far-right groups as emblems of their fight for Western civilization.

On his Fox News show Fox & Friends Weekend, various conservative podcasts, and his book The War on Warriors, published this year, Hegseth has expressed his intention to remove military officers who support military diversity programs. He has specifically called for the removal of General C.Q. Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation’s highest-ranking officer, who is also African-American.

According to Hegseth, the military’s greatest flaw is the implementation of anti-discrimination policies that have allowed openly gay service members and women to serve in combat positions. “Women shouldn’t be in combat at all. They’re life-givers, not life-takers. I know a lot of wonderful soldiers, female soldiers, who have served, who are great. But they shouldn’t be in my infantry battalion,” Hegseth said in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro in June.

In a conversation on the conservative Shawn Ryan Podcast, he insisted: “Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means casualties or worse.”

Currently, women make up 17.5% of the military’s active duty force and have excelled in their roles, according to the Pentagon. They have risen to the highest positions, including in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and more than 4,000 women are serving in combat and special operations roles, including eight Green Berets.

Hegseth is preparing for a deep restructuring of the Pentagon that would get rid of many of the leaders who have supported these inclusion policies. “The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired,” he wrote in his book.

Concern at the Pentagon

The announcement of Hegseth’s appointment, one of the first made by Trump for his new administration last week, came as a huge surprise at the Department of Defense, where a candidate with more military experience had been expected. The Pentagon had already expressed concern over statements made by the Republican presidential candidate during his campaign, in which he suggested using the military for a mass deportation campaign, or even against “enemies from within” — his political opponents and those who criticized him during the race for the White House.

Hegseth’s most significant leadership experience comes from his role as head of a small non-governmental organization for war veterans. This is a far cry from the responsibility he will face as head of a department with a budget of more than $800 billion and nearly three million personnel: 1.3 million active-duty soldiers, 1.4 million civilian employees, retired military personnel, and other individuals assigned to auxiliary corps.

The future Secretary of Defense faces serious challenges. His appointment comes at a time when the U.S. is involved in two major conflicts that directly affect its interests: Ukraine and the Gaza-Lebanon war. In Ukraine, the Trump administration will need to decide whether to continue providing economic and military aid to Kyiv in the face of Russia’s invasion. With respect to Gaza and Lebanon, it is clear that Trump will continue Joe Biden’s unwavering support for Israel.

Hegseth will also lead the Pentagon in an era of strategic rivalry with China in the Asia-Pacific region, where the United States has carefully cultivated a web of military alliances. Domestically, the Pentagon is plagued by serious and chronic problems: suicides in its ranks have been on the rise for more than a decade, and recruitment challenges persist, only partially alleviated by increased female enlistment. The popularity of the military institution has also declined since Trump’s first term, dropping from a 70% approval rating in 2017 to 45% in 2021, and 48% in 2022, according to an annual survey by the Reagan Institute.

So far, the Pentagon has tried to maintain a neutral stance toward its future leader. “There are people here that work incredibly hard, have dedicated their life to public service, whether it be in uniform or career civil servants [...] They are focused on the mission. They’re going to continue to see that mission through. And certainly on our part, from this administration, we are going to do everything that we can to ensure that there is an orderly, calm transition,” said Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh last Thursday.

However, Singh also addressed concerns about potential mass layoffs, noting that when “there are not enough people in a position or not enough people sharing the burden of work, of course, it’s going to strain the system.”

Hegseth is part of a generation of young patriots inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks to join the military. A brilliant student who graduated first from Princeton and later attended Harvard, he enlisted in the National Guard in 2003. He rose to the rank of major and served in Guantanamo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Originally from Minnesota, he had aspirations to pursue a political career as a senator from his state, but after losing the 2012 primaries, he joined the Fox network in 2014. There, he became an ardent supporter of Trump, backing him from the start of the latter’s first presidential campaign. Hegseth is credited with persuading the president in 2019 to pardon soldiers convicted of war crimes against civilians in Iraq.

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