Pete Hegseth

Announced as Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense

Donald Trump has tapped Pete Hegseth, a Fox media personality, as his pick to be the next U.S. defense secretary. According to Atlantic staff writer and Naval War College professor Tom Nichols, Trump is selecting his nominees primarily for loyalty and to send a message:

“I think his appointments, particularly for secretary of defense—and some of the rumors that have been floated out of Mar-a-Lago about prosecuting military officers and wholesale firings—these are really direct shots at the senior officer corps of the United States, and I think of it as a direct attack on our traditions of civil-military affairs. He is trying to send a message that from now on, America’s military officers are supposed to be loyal to him, first and foremost, and not the Constitution, because he still carries a pretty serious grudge against a lot of top military and civilian people during his first term as president who got in his way—or he thinks got in his way—about doing things like, you know, shooting protesters and using the military in the streets of the United States.”

Hegseth, who served in the Minnesota National Guard, ran Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), a Koch-funded right-wing advocacy group, from 2013 to 2016, and then later worked for another group called Veterans for Freedom. Per an investigation by The New Yorker, Hegseth was forced to step down from both groups “in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.” CVA’s budget neared $16 million in 2015. The Department of Defense has a nearly $1 trillion budget. Hegseth has argued against women serving in combat roles and paid a confidential financial settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault.

Hegseth has criticized injured veterans who receive government assistance for injuries sustained during their service. He has also claimed that military leaders taking waterboarding off the table was “absolutely a mistake,”criticized the Geneva Conventions. Hegseth pushed Trump to pardon members of the military convicted of war crimes and dismissed moral concerns about the use of nuclear weapons in World War II by saying, “They won. Who cares.” Hegseth has also advocated for the elimination of the United Nations.

Hegseth has a “Deus Vult” tattoo, which is considered to be associated with white supremacists, is purportedly a member of what is considered by some as a Christian supremacist movement Hegseth has pushed anti-LGBTQ beliefs and complained about “ads promoting diversity in the military to ‘trannies and lesbians,’” arguing that they were dissuading the “young, patriotic, Christian men who have traditionally filled our ranks.”

WHAT DOES PROJECT 2025 SAY ABOUT THE DOD

THE POLICIES

– Diminish DOD autonomy and concentrating defense decision making at the White House.

– Limit the advancement of “many of the existing cadre,” of generals.

PRECEDING CONTEXT FOR PROJECT 2025

– Trump fired his Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and several other senior Pentagon officials following his election loss, punishing resisters who discouraged Trump from invoking the Insurrection Act to quell protests or who refuted Trump’s stolen election lies.

– According to The Atlantic, Trump has expressed wanting absolute loyalty from his generals, reportedly stating “I need the kind of generals Hitler had.”

– Where past presidents took careful measures to ensure diplomatic communications were strategic, aligned with national interests, and conveyed with tact, Trump used Twitter to issue reckless policy statements, including threatening and provoking Iran, improvidently announcing U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria, ending joint military exercises with South Korea, and divulging classified information.

– Trump used the U.S. military and flag officers as political props. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reflected “I should not have been there,” referring to his appearance with Trump when walking after protestors were forcibly dispersed in Lafayette Square.

– Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn proposed using the U.S. military to seize voting machines and overturn the 2020 election.

HOW ARE PROJECT 2025’S POLICIES POSSIBLE?

– The President has nearly complete authority over directing the U.S. military and may appoint key DOD officials subject to Senate confirmation. Nominated but unconfirmed officials can serve in an acting capacity.

– The 6-3 MAGA-majority Supreme Court decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts in the case granting Trump unprecedented immunity for “official acts,” creates a perilous situation where a president would be insulated from criminal prosecution if they use their “official powers” in any way. . This could create dangerous confusion within the military’s chain of command in the case of an order, such as an order to assassinate a President’s political opponent.