(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Personal
Birth date: June 6, 1980
Birth place: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Birth name: Peter Brian Hegseth
Father: Brian Hegseth, basketball coach
Mother: Penelope “Penny” Hegseth, career coach
Marriages: Jennifer Rauchet (2019–present); Samantha Deering (2010-2018, divorced); Meredith Schwarz (2004-2009, divorced)
Children: with Jennifer Rauchet: Gwendolyn, Kenzie, Jackson and Luke (Kenzie, Jackson and Luke are Jennifer’s children from a previous relationship); with Samantha Deering: Gunner, Peter Boone and Rex
Education: Princeton University, B.A., 2003; Harvard University, M.P.P., 2013
Military service: Army National Guard, 2002-2021, Major
Religion: Christian
Other Facts
Has earned two Bronze Star Medals.
Authored five books.
After his stint at Vets for Freedom, Hegseth also led Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), another veteran advocacy nonprofit, for more than four years.
Hegseth has a history of supporting controversial policies, including using the US military to put down domestic riots, speaking in favor of enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding, pardoning US soldiers convicted of war crimes, targeting cultural institutions in drone strikes and banning women from combat roles.
Timeline
2007- 2012 – Vets for Freedom, executive director and later as officer.
2012 – Runs for Minnesota’s US Senate seat before dropping out after a rival candidate wins the Republican Party’s nomination.
2014 – Joins Fox News as a contributor.
2017-November 12, 2024 – Co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
May 21, 2019 – CNN reports Hegseth privately encouraged US President Donald Trump to pardon some US service members accused of war crimes, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
January 2021 – Is removed from inauguration duty for US President Joe Biden as a National Guard member because of what he describes as a religious tattoo of a Jerusalem cross. Hegseth resigns from the military. On November 15, 2024, Reuters and The Associated Press report that Hegseth was flagged by a fellow servicemember as a possible “insider threat” due to a “Deus Vult” (Latin for “God wills it”) tattoo on his right arm, a symbol used by White nationalists.
November 23, 2021 – Hegseth’s book “Modern Warriors” is published.
June 13, 2023 – Hegseth’s book “Battle for the American Mind” is published.
June 4, 2024 – Hegseth’s book “The War on Warriors” is published.
November 12, 2024 – President-elect Trump announces Hegseth as his nomination for secretary of defense.
November 20, 2024 – According to a police report from the city attorney’s office of Monterey, California, a woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in his hotel room on October 8, 2017. In a statement released on November 21, 2024, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni says that her office declined to file charges against Hegseth in January 2018 because “no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
November 29, 2024 – The New York Times reports Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, wrote Pete an email on April 30, 2018, accusing him of mistreating former wife Samantha Deering and other women. On the same day, Penelope Hegseth says in a phone interview with the New York Times that she regrets sending the email, arguing that her son is a changed man.
January 14, 2025 – A Senate panel conducts a confirmation hearing for Hegseth. Hegseth is questioned about excessive drinking allegations, sexual assault accusations and his shifting public view on women in military combat.
January 24, 2025 – In a 51-50 vote, the Senate confirms Hegseth to be the US defense secretary. Vice President JD Vance casts the tie-breaking vote.
January 25, 2025 – Is sworn in as the 29th US secretary of defense.
March 24, 2025 – The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg reports that he was accidentally added to a Signal group chat detailing operational plans and other likely highly classified information about US military strikes on Yemen. National security advisor Mike Waltz started the group thread that included Hegseth, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On March 26, 2025, The Atlantic publishes additional text messages from the group chat following the Trump administration and those in the group downplaying the sensitivity of the information.
April 2025 – It is reported that Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat, this one on his personal phone and including his wife, lawyer and brother.
June 2025 – Hegseth orders the secretary of the Navy to rename the oiler ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk.
August 24, 2025 – US National Guard members deployed to Washington, DC, start carrying their sidearms. This follows a directive by Hegseth last week that authorized members of the National Guard, who are deployed as part of President Trump’s anti-crime agenda in the nation’s capital, to begin carrying weapons.
September 5, 2025 – Hegseth joins Trump in the Oval Office for the signing of an executive order to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War.” Hegseth said the name change is “not just about renaming, it’s about restoring.”
September 30, 2025 – Hegseth delivers a speech to hundreds of senior military officers about the changing culture of the military. He says there will be “no more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions.” Height and weight requirements will be enforced and there will be “no more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.” Rules of engagement are directives governing how and when the US military can use force.
October 10, 2025 – Hegseth announces that the US will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, which will host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots who will train alongside US troops.
December 4, 2025 – In an unclassified report, a Pentagon watchdog says that Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans. It also details how Hegseth declined to fully cooperate with the probe.
December 4, 2025 – The New York Times files a lawsuit against the Department of Defense over the Pentagon’s new restrictions on press access. The lawsuit names the Defense Department, Hegseth and the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, as defendants.
January 12, 2026 – Lawyers for Sen. Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit seeking to block Hegseth’s move to cut Kelly’s retirement pay and reduce his rank in response to Kelly’s urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders. The lawsuit argues punishing Kelly violates the First Amendment and will have a chilling effect on legislative oversight. On February 12, a federal judge shuts down Hegseth’s attempts to punish Kelly, ruling that the Pentagon chief’s actions were unconstitutionally retaliatory. The decision lands two days after a grand jury in Washington, DC, declined to approve charges sought by federal prosecutors against Kelly and several other Democratic lawmakers.
April 21, 2026 – Hegseth announces that the US military will no longer require the annual flu vaccine for troops.
April 29, 2026 – In his testimony to the House, Hegseth makes the false claim that US troops were sent to polling locations under Biden in 2024. He repeats the false claim in his testimony to the Senate the following day. All National Guard activations connected to the 2024 election were ordered by state governors, not by Biden. And all 12 of the states that responded to CNN’s requests for information said that none of their troops were deployed to polling locations.
July 15, 2026 – Hegseth announces that he is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he said. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be tested. In a video on social media, Hegseth said receiving testosterone replacement therapy would be voluntary.
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