President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary was grilled over the war in Ukraine during a confirmation hearing on Jan. 14, after he failed to mention Russia’s full-scale invasion during his opening remarks.
Speaking to the Armed Services Committee, Pete Hegseth was asked if the omission was "code for 'we’re going to abandon Ukraine.'"
"We know who the aggressor is," Hegseth replied, adding: "We know who the good guy is. We’d like to see (the resolution of the war be) as advantageous for the Ukrainians as possible."
"But that war needs to come to an end," he added.
The Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on Hegseth’s confirmation as soon as Monday, Reuters reports. He will then be considered by the full U.S. Senate.
Hegseth’s nomination in November sent shockwaves through Pentagon corridors, with officials anonymously questioning his qualifications to lead the department.
He would lead 1.3 million troops and over 750,000 civilians, preside over a $850 billion budget, and hold meetings with U.S. allies, acting as the principal defense policymaker and adviser.
A former conservative talk show host on Fox News, Hegseth is seen as an isolationist who has called for reducing the U.S. commitment to the NATO military alliance.
He previously served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, doing multiple tours of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Following his discharge from the army, he became head of the conservative organization Concerned Veterans for America and, in June 2024, released a book titled "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free."
Hegseth also unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota in 2012.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
