Trump picks Fox News host over Joni Ernst for Defense Secretary job

President-elect Donald Trump chose a Fox News host as his secretary of defense over US Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

By Zachary Oren Smith

November 13, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump chose a Fox News host as his secretary of defense over US Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

National security leaders reportedly told Ernst that she was a good fit for US Secretary of Defense, a top appointed position in Trump’s future cabinet. In addition to her military service, Ernst has deep experience in military policymaking through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She could have been the first female secretary of defense. But not long after Ernst’s own expressed interest in the post leaked, the incoming president picked someone with much different experience.

Trump announced Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth would be his secretary of defense, an authority over the nation’s military second only to the president.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

Hegseth has contributed to Fox News since 2014. Over the years, Trump made regular appearances on his show. He published this year’s “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.” He also headed the Koch-funded group Concerned Veterans for America.

Hegseth is a veteran and has been an opponent of women serving in combat roles in the US military. He has explained this as “woke shit” that has made its way into the military.

“But our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where, traditionally — not traditionally, over human history — men in those positions are more capable,” Hegeth said on The Shawn Ryan Show.

Ernst told CBS News that Hegseth is “going to be a very strong secretary.”

“Washington’s rumor mill will never stop churning, but Senator Ernst is laser-focused on serving Iowans and her colleagues as Conference Chair and carrying out President Trump’s agenda in the Senate,” Ernst’s Washington office said in a statement.

According to The Associated Press, Ernst was part of a short list of potential Republican picks including House Armed Services Committee chair US Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, US Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, and former Pentagon official Robert Wilkie, who headed the Department of Veterans Affairs in Trump’s first term.

The US Secretary of Defense is subject to a US Senate confirmation process.

Zachary Oren Smith

Zachary Oren Smith is your friendly neighborhood reporter. He leads Starting Line’s political coverage where he investigates corruption, housing affordability and the future of work. For nearly a decade, he’s written award-winning stories for Iowa Public Radio, The Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Send your tips on hard news and good food to [email protected].

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