A look at Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host Trump picked as Defense secretary Forcing abrupt change on the Pentagon, its 2.3 million troops and civilian workers, and a $900 billion annual budget has eluded former Defense secretaries with more experience. WASHINGTON − President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary breaks longstanding tradition of Pentagon chiefs with long careers in government, industry and the military. Dan Rice, president of the American University Kyiv and a former U.S. military officer and advisor to the Ukrainian military who said he is a friend of Hegseth's and has appeared with him on Fox many times, said Hegseth's comments on air are "a reflection of Fox News, not of the Trump administration."