'Don't want to fight wars, but deter them', says Pete Hegseth after being sworn in as US defence secretary
World: Vice President JD Vance administered the oath to Hegseth in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in the presence of Hegseth's wife Jennifer Rauchet.
Pete Hegseth was sworn in on Saturday (Jan 25) as United States 29th Secretary of Defence, becoming a part of President Donald Trump's Cabinet after a highly contentious and closely split vote.
Vice President JD Vance administered the oath to Hegseth in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in the presence of Hegseth's wife Jennifer Rauchet.
The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Hegseth’s confirmation.
'Don't want to fight wars...'
Hegseth in his remarks, noted his guiding principles, saying, "Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence.”
Also read: Pete Hegseth confirmed as US defence secretary with tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance
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He added that he does not want to fight wars, but wants to deter them.
“We don’t want to fight wars,” he added. “We want to deter them … and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home," he said.
He thanked Vance for his tiebreaking vote and joked that his children were happy their father “won in overtime.”
“It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you,” Hegseth said, thanking Trump.
Trump in the day, celebrated the confirmation on Truth Social, stating, "Congratulations to Pete Hegseth. He will make a great Secretary of Defense!"
The soldier-turned-media personality's nomination faced intense scrutiny due to allegations of sexual assault and workplace misconduct that emerged in recent months. Critics also pointed to his controversial stance against women serving in combat roles and his call to remove military generals.
When asked by a reporter why women in the military should trust him, Vance stepped in and said, "Let me answer that for the new secretary. All people in armed services should trust him, because he looks out for them, and he’s going to fight for them. He’s going to make sure that we have the kind of military that we can all be proud in, that we can all be proud of, and then again when we send it to do a job, we do it well, we do it quickly, then we get the hell out."
(With inputs from agencies)
