In his three weeks at work, Defense Minister Pete HegSeth removed portraits of his predecessors from the Pentagon, forbidden black history celebrations, limited access to teaching materials in military schools that affect opinions that he did not like and attacked the renaming bases.
On his first trip abroad in Brussels on Wednesday, he said that it was unrealistic to regain all territories seized by Russia. And he signaled Europeans that they should look at themselves rather than the United States to ensure their safety.
All the new Cabinet secretaries have accepted their role as President Trump’s promoters, who Senil the Politics brand. However, few did it with enthusiasm as Mr. Hegseth, former National Guard and Fox News host, who shares the President’s opinion that the Allies have used too long the American Larges Home.
During their first meeting with Pentagon employees at Town hall On Friday, Mr. Hegseth spent a large part of his introductory notes and prevented his efforts to dismantle the diversity and policy of inclusion. He repeated his speaking points about the “flyite” and returned “Warfighting” back to the army. He spoke briefly about “Communist China”, but said nothing about Iran, North Korea or Russia.
The deterrence said “begins our own southern border.”
“It begins the defense of our homeland,” he continued.
It was an opinion that he repeated on Tuesday after meeting with American soldiers and commanders in Stuttgart in Germany. Asked at a press conference, if China was the greatest threat to the United States, answered “Right now it was the greatest threat of securing our own boundary, which we quickly deal with.”
In order to help meet Mr. Trump’s goal to limit the undocumented immigrants, the Pentagon rushed 1600 Marines and the army soldiers on the border of the country with Mexico. These forces joined with 2,500 soldiers who were there.
Mr. HegSeth has He has repeatedly warned against “invasion” And he gave thousands of other soldiers to deploy, including the elite 82. Aviation Division. However, the deployment comes although the state of the border is relatively calm, and the transitions in recent months have fallen sharply after Biden administration has taken steps to reduce migration.
The inner secretary of the new defense is hardly surprising, given his earlier statements of incorporation and mistakes that they believe that military brass during the global wars against terrorism.
“He wants to focus on the US and focus on the boundaries and immigration and involvement of the army,” said Risa Brooks, a docent of political science at Marquette University.
However, she added: “She leaves a lot of questions about what the country’s orientation will be to its external opponents.”
On Friday, the Pentagon employees ask Russia and China twice during the questions and answers.
Mr. HegSeth did not mention Russia in his answers. He talked about the “war that was released in Ukraine”, but did not name the American opponent who attacked the country.
Instead, Mr. HegSeth spoke about the need to maintain “standards” in the army. “It starts with the basic things, right?” Mr. Hegset said. “These are standards of care and training standards, fitness standards, all care about it.”
And when he spoke to a room full of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and White Americans, Men and Women, Mr. HegSeth offered a full attack for decades of military decades of diversification.
“I think the only stupidest phrase in military history is” Our diversity is our strength, “he said.
Mr. HegSeth acknowledged that the weight of the work sank.
He spoke of signing orders to deploy thousands of soldiers around the world. He spoke of the calls of the families of two soldiers who died in the Fort Stewart vehicle, GA, and the family of three crew members on board the Army Black Hawk helicopter, which collided with a jet aircraft over Washington last month.
“The costs and consequences are very real,” he said.
Although Mr. HegSeth is in Europe this week, he will skip the Munich Security Conference – usually an important port for new defense secretaries – but has met American units in Germany and Poland. He he had elaborated On Tuesday with army green berets, publishing in social media photographs that raise weights and run with soldiers from group 10.
“I’d rather talk to soldiers than to go to cocktail parties,” he said at the town hall last week. (On his confirmation hearing of the Senate last month said he did it Five sets of 47 push-ups That morning – maybe a tribute to Mr. Trump, 47. President.)
“The press in Washington might think I was young,” said Mr. Hegseth, 44, in Stuttgart when he asked his fitness routine. “But from a military point of view I’m old.”
He took part in the first monthly meeting on Wednesday Contact group of defense of Ukraine Trump’s administration. The group was created in April 2022 and Led Lloyd J. Austin IIIBut Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegset gave up the group leadership to Britain.
On Thursday he will attend a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
“It is a promising sign that it is involved in NATO conversation and engages in its foreign counterparts,” said Katherine Kuzinski, director of the army, veterans and the company in the center for the new American security.
She added, however, that it is not clear where the Minister of Defense stood on issues concerning NATO.
And he has not yet worked – to the endangered General purification, although he warned during his town hall that Afghanistan was coming.
“Many people have been encouraged that Secretary HegSeth has so far maintained military leadership because there were concerns that he could fire some of them,” Mrs. Brooks said.
Mr. Hegseth did not appear before the domestic intelligence media in the Pentagon – something that his predecessor, Mr. Austin, also dealt with – but several performances appeared on Fox News night programming.
In fact, when it comes to news, Mr. Hegseth was stronger than his boss.
Mr. HegSeth told some intelligence centers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC and CNN, that they would have to give up their devotees in the Pentagon. The new rotation will be replaced by other stores, including right -wing websites Breitbart News and One America News.
The first day at work Mr. HegSeth referred to Fort Bragg and Fort Benning and used old names for two military installations, which was named after the general confederation. This installation was renamed in 2023 as part of a wider effort, which began during the first administration of Mr. Trump with the removal of military awards awarded to men who rebelled against the Union during the Civil War.
The bases cannot formally return to the names of the generals of the Confederation unless the Congress again changes the law. So the military officials directed by Mr. Hegseth were looking for soldiers with the same surnames, the army officials said. They came up with a soldier of an army called Roland L. Braggwho won a silver star and a purple heart for fighting during World War II.
On Monday evening, Mr. HegSeth published a video of himself signing a new order from his plane: “There it is. In accordance with the authority of the Minister of Defense, the head of the United States Code, I direct the army to change the name Fort Liberty, NC, Fort Bragg, NC, ”he said in the video. “Correctly.” Bragg is back. ”
Defense officials say it would be easy to switch the base of the base back to Fort Bragg because it was renamed Fort Liberty. Other bases were renamed in honor of people, including a black sergeant who fought with German soldiers during the First World War, the first Hispanic four -star general and a woman who served as an army surgeon during the civil war.
Army officials estimate that the renovation of the foundations cost about $ 39 million.
Asked if the Pentagon could face the same drastic cuts that Elon Musk was looking for for the main federal agency for assistance and another department, Mr. Hegseth promised to be “carefully”. The process will not be rash, he said, “Because we are in the National Security Business.”
And yet soon after, Mr. HegSeth reposting the message on x From Mr. Musk, who approved Mr. Trump’s claim in an interview with Fox News that “hundreds of billions of dollars and abuse” would be revealed in the Pentagon.
Even the IS with an annual Pentagon budget of $ 850 billion, the loss of “hundreds of billions” would cause the largest agency in the government.
