last night Washington Week With The Atlanticpanelists came together to explore Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s role and influence in the Trump administration, and what his leadership may reveal about how he is trying to reshape the U.S. military.
Over time, there has been a “tradition where defense secretaries are trying to tone down their biases,” Missy Ryan, a staff writer at Atlantiche said last night. “Because they are the protectors of America’s sons and daughters, they are trying, in the name of national security, to act more like an impartial actor.” But Hegseth, he argued, “has completely discarded that tradition, and we see him leaning into his role as a combatant.”
Connect with the editor-in-chief of AtlanticJeffrey Goldberg, discuss this and more: Helene Cooper, national security correspondent at New York Times; Jonathan Karl, senior Washington correspondent at ABC News; Ryan; Vivian Salama, staff writer at Atlantic.
Watch the full episode here.
