Trump Picks Fox News Host Pete Hegseth for Pentagon, John Ratcliffe for CIA

Trump plans to nominate former Army National Guard officer Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, with former U.S. Attorney Ratcliffe in line to head the CIA

The nominations are the latest in several top-level changes to Trump’s national security team

President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be deputy secretary of defense for personnel and readiness and former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe to be director of national intelligence, according to a White House statement released Monday.

The nominations are the latest in a series of top-level changes to Trump’s national security team. Earlier this year, Trump replaced Defense Secretary Mark Esper with Christopher Miller, a former Army Special Forces officer who has been serving as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. In August, Trump fired CIA Director Gina Haspel and replaced her with Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Hegseth is a former Army National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a Fox News contributor and co-host of the Fox & Friends Weekend program. He is also a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would be responsible for overseeing the Pentagon’s personnel and readiness policies. He would also be responsible for managing the military’s budget and infrastructure.

Ratcliffe is a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. He is a Republican who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2020. Ratcliffe is a close ally of Trump and has been a vocal supporter of the president’s policies.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ratcliffe would be responsible for overseeing the CIA’s intelligence collection and analysis operations. He would also be responsible for managing the CIA’s budget and personnel.

The nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe are likely to be controversial. Hegseth has been criticized for his lack of experience in government and for his close ties to Trump. Ratcliffe has been criticized for his lack of experience in intelligence and for his close ties to Trump.

However, both Hegseth and Ratcliffe are likely to be confirmed by the Senate. The Republican-controlled Senate has a history of confirming Trump’s nominees, even when they are controversial.

The nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe are the latest in a series of top-level changes to Trump’s national security team. These changes have led to some speculation that Trump is preparing for a second term in office. However, it is also possible that Trump is simply trying to reshape his national security team in his own image.