Pete Hegseth unveils campaign to save his job as defence secretary in new Trump administration

Pete Hegseth is fighting back against allegations of drunkenness on the job, sexual assault and financial mismanagement to try to save his job as next defence secretary.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, at the US Capitol on Wednesday in Washington. Picture: Getty Images

Donald Trump’s nominee for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has launched a public fightback to keep his position with the incoming administration, declaring he “won’t back down” and defending himself as the right person to lead the Pentagon.

Mr Hegseth, who is a military veteran, conducted a media interview with Megyn Kelly on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), dismissing as “ridiculous” the damaging allegations of drinking on the job, inappropriate sexual behaviour and financial mismanagement of two veterans’ organisations levelled against him.

He said some of the details printed in the media – including that he had to be restrained from dancing on stage at a Louisiana strip club in November 2014 – were factually wrong and based on anonymous sources, declaring that he welcomed an FBI investigation to tell “the full story”.

Mr Hegseth also promised not to drink any alcohol if he ended up being confirmed for the job by the Senate, declaring “I am not going to have a drink at all. It’s not hard for me because it’s not a problem for me.”

“This is the biggest deployment of my life and there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it,” he said.

His mother, Penelope Hegseth, also appeared on Fox News on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to defend her son after an email she wrote to him in the middle of his second divorce in 2018 was leaked and widely reported on.

In that email, she said Mr Hegseth was a man who “belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego” – but explained that she wrote the message “in haste” and “with deep emotions”. She told Fox News she retracted the email two hours after sending it and also apologised for her words, arguing that Mr Hegseth was a “new person”.

Mr Hegseth said it was now his time to “stand up and tell the truth” and his meetings with members of the Senate armed services committee had been “great … and we’re not backing down one bit”.

“It is the classic art of the smear,” he told Kelly. “I’ve never had a drinking problem. No one’s ever approached me. I’m also the right guy to be in the Pentagon to understand what our young war fighters are going through.”

Mr Hegseth revealed that he spoke to Mr Trump on Wednesday morning (Thursday AEDT), saying the president-elect had told him “I got your back”. This is despite Republican sources telling media outlets that Mr Trump had canvassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a potential replacement for Mr Hegseth.

Mr Hegseth denied raping a woman who had accused him of sexual assault in 2017, but acknowledged he did pay her to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect his wife, his family and his job. Mr Hegseth maintained the encounter was consensual.

He also rejected allegations printed in the New Yorker that he mismanaged the finances for two veterans groups – Concerned Veterans for America and Veterans for Freedom – and took aim at the credibility of the whistleblower report on which it based its reporting.

In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, Mr Hegseth said he was the victim of a “textbook manufactured media take-down. They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf.”

“I have never backed down from a fight and won’t back down from this one. I am grateful president-elect Trump chose me to lead the Defence Department, and I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators – not a show trial in the press,” he said.

Mr Hegseth continued to meet with Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday (AEDT), including Joni Ernst – an Iowa Republican and combat veteran who has talked about her own experience with sexual assault. After the meeting, Senator Ernst said they had a “frank and thorough conversation”.