Hegseth Book Seems To Have Gotten Trump’s Attention

By
Rachel Stevenson
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President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, isn’t exactly your typical “yes man.” In fact, Hegseth has spent the better part of his post-military career calling out what he sees as the dangerous infiltration of woke ideology into the U.S. armed forces. With Trump’s confidence behind him, Hegseth is stepping into his new role with a mission: to restore the military’s focus on merit, unity, and strength—rather than on divisive social agendas.

In his latest book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Hegseth pulls back the curtain on how “woke” policies have fundamentally reshaped the military. He describes how, over 20 years of service—from Guantánamo Bay to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan—he watched the military go from a fiercely merit-based, mission-oriented institution to a platform for social engineering.

Hegseth’s own journey out of the military wasn’t exactly voluntary. He recalls being labeled an “extremist” by the same Army he had faithfully served for two decades simply because of his Christian faith and outspoken conservative views. This is a man who wore the uniform, served in combat, and then found himself pushed out of the service by those very institutions in which he’d placed his trust.

Hegseth doesn’t mince words about when and why this shift began, pointing a firm finger at the Obama administration. Under Obama, the military’s mission shifted to focus on “gender issues, trans issues, women in combat, and climate change,” according to Hegseth. And under Biden? The military, he says, has taken it a step further, turning its attention to “rooting out extremism”—or, more accurately, identifying anyone who dares to hold conservative views or religious beliefs as a potential threat.

One story Hegseth shared on the Daily Wire underscores just how far this shift has gone. In 2021, while Hegseth was on active duty with the National Guard, he was abruptly told that his presence wasn’t needed to help with security at Biden’s inauguration. Why? Someone had scrolled through his social media, spotted a Jerusalem cross tattoo, and decided it was “extremist.” It didn’t seem to matter that he was a decorated combat veteran or that the cross had personal significance tied to his faith. In this new “woke” military, the wrong tattoo or belief can get a soldier sidelined—no questions asked.

The situation has only worsened, Hegseth argues, as the military has taken on divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies. These policies, he says, don’t foster unity; they create suspicion and resentment among soldiers who should be operating as a unified force. Under DEI training, soldiers are now conditioned to see their comrades through the lens of identity politics rather than shared mission and values. According to Hegseth, these initiatives encourage black soldiers to view white soldiers with distrust and vice versa, creating a toxic culture that undermines the military’s effectiveness.

Hegseth’s book has struck a nerve with Americans who are deeply concerned about the direction of the military under progressive policies. The War on Warriors quickly hit the top of the New York Times bestseller list, moving 60,000 copies in its first week, proving that there’s a large audience ready to hear—and address—these issues. To Hegseth, the answer is clear: the military needs to go back to focusing on what matters most—defending America with strength, skill, and unity.

In his new role as Secretary of Defense, Hegseth plans to bring that focus back. The stakes are high, and Hegseth is likely to face fierce opposition. But one thing is certain—Hegseth has never been one to back down. As he sees it, America’s safety and the morale of its military are on the line, and he’s not about to let the “woke” experiment erode the institution he’s dedicated his life to.

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