Who is Pete Hegseth? His family, net worth, controversies explored
Pete Hegseth is an American television host at Fox News, a published author, and a war veteran. He served in Cuba, Iraq, and Afghanistan. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Hegseth as the United States Secretary of Defense in his second cabinet.
Source: UGC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Profiles summary
- Who is Pete Hegseth?
- Educational background
- Pete Hegseth's military service
- Pete Hegseth on Fox
- Pete Hegseth's political interest
- What is Pete Hegseth's net worth?
- What is Pete Hegseth's salary?
- Pete Hegseth's books
- Who is Pete Hegseth's spouse?
- Who is Pete Hegseth's new wife?
- Pete Hegseth's allegations and controversies
- How many kids does Pete Hegseth have?
- Where does Pete Hegseth live?
- Who will replace Pete Hegseth on Fox?
- Are Will Cain and Pete Hegseth friends?
- FAQs
Pete Hegseth is a vocal political activist in conservative politics. He was a strong Donald Trump supporter and served as his occasional advisor during his presidency. Pete ran for the nomination of the Republican US Senate seat in Minnesota in 2012 but later withdrew from the race.
Profiles summary
| Full name | Pete Brian Hegseth |
| Date of birth | 6th June 1980 |
| Age | 44 years old (as of January 2025) |
| Birth sign | Gemini |
| Place of birth | Forest Lake, Minnesota, United States |
| Current residence | Tennessee, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Height | 6'1"(185 cm) |
| Weight | 170 lbs (77 kgs) |
| Gender | Male |
| Sexual orientation | Straight |
| Marital status | Married |
| Spouse | Jennifer Rauchet (m. 2019) |
| Children | 7 |
| Father | Brian Hegseth |
| Mother | Penny Hegseth |
| Education | Harvard University (Master's of Public Policy)Princeton University (BA) |
| Profession | TV host, author, Army National Guard Officer |
| Political party | Republican |
| X (Formerly Twitter) | @PeteHegseth |
| @petehegseth | |
| Pete Hegseth | |
| Net worth | $6 million |
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Hegseth is an American television personality and former Army National Guard officer. He has been a political commentator for Fox News since 2014 and served as the weekend co-host of Fox & Friends from 2017 to 2024.
Before that, he was the executive director of Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Pete was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 6 June 1980. He is the son of Brian Hegseth, a basketball coach, and Penny Hegseth. He was raised in nearby Forest Lake and is of Norwegian descent on both sides of the family.
Educational background
Pete graduated as valedictorian from Forest Lake Area High School in 1999, where he played football and basketball. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Princeton University in 2003.
His senior thesis, supervised by Patrick Deneen, was titled 'Modern Presidential Rhetoric and the Cold War Context.' At Princeton, he contributed to The Princeton Tory, a conservative student publication, and later became its publisher.
In this role, he published a controversial commentary by another student, which argued that a sexual act with an unconscious woman could not be considered as raping case without the presence of duress. In 2002, he also wrote that he aimed to "defend the pillars of Western civilization against the distractions of diversity."
Source: Original
Pete Hegseth's military service
In 2003, Hegseth was commissioned as a reserve infantry officer in the US Army National Guard. He later became an infantry platoon leader of the Minnesota National Guard during his service in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until 2005. In 2006, he served in Iraq.
He was made captain in 2012 and was later deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard, where he served as a senior counterinsurgency instructor.
Pete is now a major and serves in the Individual Ready Reserve. For his service in the military, Hegseth has received the following awards and badges:
- Two Bronze Stars
- Two Army Commendation Medals
- A National Defense Service Medal
- A Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
- An Expert Infantryman Badge
- A Combat Infantryman Badge
The Iraq War veteran was the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, a political advocacy group, until 2015. He also served as executive director of Vets for Freedom from 2007 to 2010.
Pete Hegseth on Fox
He joined Fox in 2014 as a contributor and is the co-host of Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends Weekend.
Hegseth previously hosted the Fox Nation special, The Miseducation of America, and the All-American New Year Special in 2020 and 2023. He has been a regular guest on Unfiltered with Dan Bongino since 2021.
Pete Hegseth's political interest
Hegseth has been involved in conservative and Republican politics since his undergraduate studies at Princeton University. As a national guardsman, he served at Guantánamo Bay, as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2016, he became a vocal supporter of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and later served as an occasional advisor during Trump's first term. Encouraged by Hegseth, Trump pardoned three soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes in 2019.
Although Hegseth was considered for the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs position in the first Trump administration, David Shulkin was ultimately chosen. On 12 November 2024, Trump announced that Hegseth would be his United States Secretary of Defense nominee.
Source: Getty Images
What is Pete Hegseth's net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth and Inkl, Pete's net worth is estimated at $6 million. He earned his fortune from his work in the military, as a TV host, and as an author.
What is Pete Hegseth's salary?
His salary at Fox News is estimated to be between $100,000 and $300,000. He has worked at the network since 2014 and began his military career in 2003.
In June 2022, Pete purchased a home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, for $3.425 million. The 9,000-square-foot mansion features four bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
Pete Hegseth's books
The TV host is a published and New York Times best-selling author. His books include:
| Name | Year |
| In the Arena: Good Citizens, a Great Republic, and How One Speech Can Reinvigorate America | 2016 |
| American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free | 2020 |
| Modern Warriors: Real Stories from Real Heroes | 2020 |
| Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation | 2022 |
Who is Pete Hegseth's spouse?
The Iraq War veteran has been married three times. In 2004, Hegseth wed his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, his high school girlfriend from Minnesota. They divorced in 2009 after he admitted to having five affairs.
In 2010, he married his second wife, Samantha Deering, with whom he shares three sons. However, in August 2017, while still married to Samantha, Hegseth had a daughter, Gwen, with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet. That same month, Samantha filed for divorce, finalized ten months later.
Who is Pete Hegseth's new wife?
Pete is married to Jennifer Rauchet, an American executive media producer at Fox News. She has been in the industry for over a decade but often stays behind the cameras.
Hegseth and Rauchet, who had three young children from her previous marriage, married on 16 August 2019. Pete Hegseth and Jennifer Rauchet's wedding was held at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey, USA.
Pete Hegseth's allegations and controversies
During Hegseth's divorce proceedings from his second wife in 2018, Pete Hegseth's mother, Penelope Hegseth, sent him an email in which she criticized his treatment of women. The email read:
You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years), and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth ... It's time for a someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behaviour and call it out, especially against women.
This email was later published by The New York Times in November 2024, following Trump's announcement of his intention to nominate Hegseth as Defense Secretary.
Penelope told the Times that she had written the message "in anger, with emotion". She had "immediately apologized in a separate email," clarifying that her previous statement had "never been true." She added:
I want people to look at Pete and understand him for who he is today. And to disregard the media — that was seven years ago — and most of that was misinformation. He loves this country. He's fought and almost died for this country. He's a good dad. He's an amazing son and father, and that's the Pete I want people to know. I want to say one more thing: I believe he's the man for the job, but more than that, I believe he's the man for such a time as this.
He went viral — with an axe
Hegseth gained viral attention and faced a lawsuit after accidentally striking a US Army master sergeant with an errant axe during a 2015 segment on Fox & Friends.
Footage of the incident captures the axe missing its target and hitting Jeffrey Prosperie, a drummer in West Point's Hellcats field band, who had been invited to the show to celebrate the Army's 240th anniversary.
Court records indicate that the lawsuit was dropped in 2019, with Prosperie's lawyer, Brandon Cotter, stating in an email on Wednesday that "The parties have resolved the matter and will make no further comment." Prosperie has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Fox News, also named in the lawsuit, labelled the incident as "unfortunate and completely unintentional," adding that they promptly apologized and offered medical help, which Prosperie declined. Prosperie has since returned to the network, performing with the West Point band.
He questioned the role of women in combat
Hegseth has advocated for making the military more lethal, arguing that allowing women in combat roles undermines that goal. In an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast, promoting his new book, Hegseth stated:
Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, means casualties are worse. I'm straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles — it hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.
While acknowledging that diversity in the military is a strength, Hegseth argued that it's because minority and white men can perform similarly, a claim he believes doesn't apply to women. By opening combat positions to women, Hegseth said:
We've changed the standards in putting them there, which means you've changed the capability of that unit.
Since then, in 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter allowed women to fill all combat roles. Since then, women have passed the military's rigorous tests to become Green Berets, Army Rangers, and even combatant-craft crewmen in Naval Special Warfare.
These crewmen are the boat operators who transport Navy SEALs and carry out their covert missions at sea.
Source: Getty Images
Sexual assault allegation
In October 2017, a female employee of the California Federation of Republican Women reported to police in Monterey, California, that Hegseth had assaulted her in a hotel room following an event hosted by the organization.
Pete Hegseth's accuser told police that she and Hegseth had been at the hotel bar, where things became unclear, and she suspected someone added a substance to her drink.
She recalled waking up in an unfamiliar room with Hegseth, who had taken her phone and blocked her attempts to leave. She said she clearly remembered repeatedly saying "no" and that Hegseth had sexual acts with her.
She did not remember the details of the incident until several days later, after which she went to the emergency room for a raping kit. This led to a police investigation. Hegseth admitted to having sexual acts with the woman but claimed it was consensual.
The police forwarded the case to Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni, who decided not to pursue charges, stating that there was insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
A civil lawsuit was considered, and in 2020, Hegseth settled with the woman through a non-disclosure agreement. In November 2024, Tim Parlatore, Hegseth's attorney, stated that Hegseth believed he was the victim of blackmail and was forced to settle out of fear for his career.
Details of the allegations, police report, and non-disclosure agreement became public in November 2024 after former President Trump revealed plans to nominate Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense.
He urged Trump to bomb Iran
In January 2020, he urged Trump to bomb Iran's homeland if it was believed that weapons were being stored there, saying:
I don't care about Iranian cultural sites, and I'll tell why. If they could, if Iran could, if you understand the Islamic Republic of Iran, of Islamists, if they could, if they had the power, they would destroy every single one of our cultural sites and build a mosque on top of it.
Coronavirus allegations
In February 2020, Pete claimed that Democrats were "rooting for coronavirus to spread. They're rooting for it to grow. They're rooting for the problem to get worse." He later suggested that Democrats fabricated the Omicron variant to improve their chances in the 2022 midterm elections.
How many kids does Pete Hegseth have?
The Fox News host has four children from two marriages. He shares three kids, Rex, Boone, and Gunner, with his second wife, Samantha Deering.
Pete and Jennifer Rauchet have one child, daughter Gwen, who was born in August 2017. He is the stepfather of Jennifer's three children from her previous marriage.
Where does Pete Hegseth live?
In 2022, Pete Hegseth's family moved from New Jersey to Tennessee. He has shared that he experienced a spiritual transformation in 2018, shortly after marrying his third wife.
Hegseth is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a church within the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.
He also has several tattoos, including a Jerusalem cross on his chest and one on his bicep that reads "Deus Vult," a Latin phrase that translates to "God wills it."
Who will replace Pete Hegseth on Fox?
As of 4 January 2025, there has been no official announcement regarding Pete Hegseth's replacement on Fox News. Hegseth's nomination to serve as Secretary of Defense has faced scrutiny due to misconduct allegations, leading to speculation about potential replacements.
Some sources say Trump has been considering replacing Hegseth with his one-time 2024 rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Pete Hegseth's mother, Penelope Hegseth, said things are still solid between her son and the incoming commander-in-chief.
The other night I heard that everything is good. I think Trump is a good man and he picked some good nominees, and I think the senators need to listen.
Are Will Cain and Pete Hegseth friends?
Yes, Will Cain and Pete Hegseth are friends and have worked together as co-hosts on various Fox News programs.
They have appeared on shows like Fox & Friends and Fox & Friends Weekend, where they have displayed a friendly, engaging dynamic on air. Both are political commentators.
FAQs
- Who is Pete Hegseth? He is an American television presenter, author, and former Army National Guard officer.
- How old is Pete Hegseth? As of January 2025, he is 44 years old. He was born on 6 June 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
- Who are Pete Hegseth's parents? He is the son of Brian, a basketball coach, and Penny Hegseth.
- How many marriages has Pete Hegseth had? The American presenter has been married three times.
- How many kids does Pete on Fox News have? He has seven children.
- Is Pete Hegseth a Republican or a Democrat? He is a Republican. He is known for his conservative political views and vocal supporter of various Republican causes and candidates.
- Why did Pete Hegseth leave the military? He left active duty in 2014, citing his desire to pursue a career in public service and media.
Pete Hegseth is a popular figure in America, celebrated by some for his patriotism and advocacy for veterans. He has been in the military for nearly 20 years and is a valuable contributor and host at Fox News. His political ambitions have raised eyebrows among his critics.
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