Former four-star general warns of a Hegseth-run military

President-Elect Donald Trump has selected Fox News host Peter Hegseth as his nominee for defense secretary. The announcement has come with a warning from Retired Four-Star General Barry McCaffrey, calling the pick “a politicization of the military.”

Speaking on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, McCaffrey said Hegseth “is eminently qualified to be Secretary of Defense. The question will be the policies that he supports along with Trump.”

The president-elect passed on a number of established national security heavy-hitters and chose an Army National Guard officer well known in conservative circles as a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend.”

Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary: What to know about Pete Hegseth

Hegseth’s choice could bring sweeping changes to the military. He has made it clear on his show and in interviews that, like Trump, he is opposed to “woke” programs that promote equity and inclusion. He also has questioned the role of women in combat.

“I think reversing that or calling into question the contributions of women in the armed forces is a huge mistake,” McCaffrey explained. “Women are fully integrated into the armed forces. So far, we’ve maintained gender-neutral standards.”

The general referred to a time when he asked his leaders in the Gulf War if they had it to do all over again, would they have chosen to have an all-male fighting force over mixed gender? All of them said they would not.

Hegseth, 44, a staunch conservative who embraces Trump’s “America First” policies, has pushed for making the military more lethal. While he said diversity in the military is a strength, he said it was because minority and white men can perform similarly, but that the same isn’t true for women.

McCaffrey said he no longer believes Ukraine will be supported by the U.S. under Trump, partially because of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I think it’s appalling,” McCaffrey explained. “Trump has been consistent in this. He would see Putin, who is a KGB operative, who oppresses the Russian people, has in four different occasions invaded neighboring countries, who murders his political opponents, and who has devastated Russia’s future, how he would view that as a friend, an ally and by the way, to be blunt, now polling numbers seem to say that those who support Trump also see Russia in a favorable light.”

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The general said Trump has been consistent in his affection for dictators.

McCaffrey also called into question Trump’s previous statements about purging the military, appointing only generals who are loyal to him.

“We don’t want Trump to have his generals and admirals who want the generals and admirals to serve the country loyally and the administration, they have to respond to all legal orders of the Commander in Chief, which they’ll do,” McCaffrey explained. “It’s very disturbing. There’s an analogy to Germany in the 1930s where Trump wants his own generals like Hitler, which allegedly he said in public before.”

Most of Hegseth’s experience relies on a form of combat from which the Army is shifting away. For several years, the Army has taken great efforts to restructure itself – away from the counter-insurgency operations that characterized much of its involvement in the Middle East for the past two decades – and toward what defense officials call “near-peer” threats, or organized state militaries such as Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.

Rep. Jim Walsh, chair of the Washington State Republican Party, said even so, Hegseth is ready to lead America’s military.

“He saw enough of the restructuring that went on in the Army that I think he has a policy knowledge that is substantial and greater, perhaps, even than his rank as a major,” Walsh said.

Walsh dismissed criticisms against Hegseth, saying his experience goes beyond his ranking “which some would consider more as a junior officer.”

“That’s just sore losers squawking,” he said. “There’s no indication that Pete Hegseth or other early announcement nominees are anything other than patriots and good Americans with a deep and abiding respect for the Constitution.”

McCaffery called Hegseth “eminently qualified,” but worried about his policies.

“Are we going to stay in NATO,” he asked rhetorically. “Are we going to support Ukraine’s fight against a criminal invasion by [Vladimir] Putin, who is a murderous thug?”

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.