Trump taps Pete Hegseth for defense secretary

(JNS) — U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as the nation’s next defense secretary, his transition team announced on Tuesday.

“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is 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 wrote on his Truth Social media platform.

Hegseth, 44, has served in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Minnesota native unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in his home state as a Republican in 2012, joining Fox News as a contributor in 2014.

He has advocated for Israel during his time at the conservative outlet, including the series “Battle in the Holy Land: Israel at War” over the past year about Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

In a 2018 speech to National Young Israel, a group that took him on a tour of Hamas tunnels found in Israel, he said that “Zionism and Americanism are the front lines of Western civilization and freedom in our world today.”

In a 2016 interview with The Jewish Press, Hegseth said, “I have come to really appreciate the Jewish heritage and the Jewish state. I understand how geopolitically we are linked and how critical it is that we stand by such a strong ally.”