Washington | President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) that he would nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defence and former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA, as he tapped hardliners and loyalists for his national security and foreign policy teams.

Mr Hegseth, a 44-year-old army veteran who has no government experience, is an unconventional choice to lead one of the country’s largest employers, which includes almost 3 million military and civilian employees.