By Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe · The Washington Post (c) 2025
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House is already generating turbulence at the Pentagon, where newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got to work Monday on a mission to shake up the U.S. military and align it more closely with the returning president’s “America First” agenda.
Hegseth, just days after his historically narrow confirmation vote, promised to roll back diversity programs, use the military to block migrants from entering the United States illegally and hold the Biden administration accountable for perceived foreign policy failures. He begins his assignment as what the White House has lauded as a long-overdue “disrupter.”
“There are more executive orders coming,” Hegseth said, referencing measures to eliminate diversity efforts and to reinstate military personnel fired during the Biden years for rejecting a coronavirus vaccine mandate. “Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting.”
Hegseth, a former National Guard soldier and Fox News host, is already demonstrating that intent, posting a handwritten note on defense secretary stationary Sunday vowing there would be “no exceptions, name-changes, or delays” in the Pentagon’s enforcement of an administration-wide effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. “Those who do not comply will no longer work here,” he wrote.
He spoke as the new administration plunges ahead with steps already pulling America’s armed forces more deeply into politically charged issues, including decisions to deploy troops to secure the southern border to counter what Trump has called an “invasion” of immigrants and his move to fire the first woman to lead the U.S. Coast Guard for, among other cited grievances, an “excessive focus” on diversity issues.
Hegseth rose to prominence championing some of Trump’s preferred military causes, advocating for lenient treatment of service members accused of war crimes and pushing back against what he has decried as “woke” military policies. Now he takes charge at the Pentagon after a divisive confirmation process that aired allegations of heavy drinking, sexual assault and mismanagement. Hegseth vehemently denied wrongdoing and during his confirmation process blamed “anonymous smears” in addressing some of the accusations.
How far Hegseth will go in pushing his previously voiced views remains unclear. While Hegseth has been an ardent opponent of the 2015 decision to let women serve in combat units, he appeared to mute those views after being tapped by Trump.
Speaking outside the Pentagon, Hegseth, 44, said that “every moment that I’m here” he would be thinking about the “guys and gals in Guam and Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg,” using the former names of Army installations that were renamed during the Biden administration because they honored Confederate generals.
The administration’s agenda is already creating uncertainty and uneasiness in the military ranks.
Among those most affected could be Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who welcomed Hegseth to the building Monday and whom the new secretary criticized at length before Trump chose Hegseth for the defense secretary role. Asked by a reporter if he would fire the veteran Air Force officer, who stood next to him, the new secretary patted Brown’s arm.
“Standing with him right now,” Hegseth said. “Look forward to working with him.”
The early effects of the anti-diversity decree were also evident in the Air Force, where officials appeared uncertain of which programs and topics would be off-limits in the Hegseth-era Pentagon.
On Friday, an unofficial Facebook group frequented by Air Force members posted an excerpt from a message that showed service officials had pulled blocks of training for recruits that included videos about the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), trailblazing groups typically celebrated by U.S. military officials. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of mostly African American pilots who fought in World War II, while the WASP was a group of female pilots who tested aircraft in the United States, freeing male counterparts to fight in the war.
Air Force officials acknowledged Saturday that the videos had been removed from the training curriculum, citing the way they were intertwined in courses now under review. The videos “were not the direct focus of course removal actions,” a service official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.
As backlash grew, Lt. Gen. Brian S. Robinson, commander of Air Education and Training Command, denied in a separate statement Sunday that any content “highlighting the honor and valor” of the Tuskegee Airmen or WASP had been removed from recruit training. Rather, Robinson said, the block of training “included DEI material which was directed to be removed,” and the recruits involved will now receive revised training that still includes information about the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP, but with other changes made.
No recruits “will miss this block of instruction due to the revision, however one group of trainees had the training delayed,” Robinson said in his statement. “The revised training which focuses on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond will continue on 27 January.”
Supporters of the Trump administration responded angrily to the flurry of negative stories, accusing Air Force officials of “malicious compliance” with the administration’s DEI crackdown and arguing that in removing the videos from training, the service was attempting to make Trump look bad.
Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-Alabama), a staunch Trump backer, posted on social media on Sunday evening that she had “no doubt Secretary Hegseth will correct and get to the bottom of the malicious compliance we’ve seen in recent days.” She noted that Trump recognized the Tuskegee Airmen during his first term in office, promoting one of its members, Charles McGee, to the rank of brigadier general during a ceremony in the Oval Office.
Within minutes, Hegseth responded to Britt with a social media post of his own, saying: “Amen! We’re all over it Senator. This will not stand.”
By Sunday night, he followed up with another post with a screenshot of coverage in the San Antonio Express-News and said: “This has been immediately reversed. Thank you @SenKatieBritt.”
One defense official familiar with the matter voiced exasperation over how the situation has played out. In attempting to adhere to the incoming administration’s murky policy, this official said, commanders ran afoul of political appointees’ desires.
“It’s almost like you’re danged if you do, and you’re danged if you don’t,” the official said.