Pete Hegseth is considering a presidential campaign—and his wife has been floating the idea, too.
Pete, 46, and Jennifer, 49, are under the impression that some of the Defense Secretary’s characteristics overlap with President Donald Trump’s, and could therefore be an asset in a 2028 presidential campaign, NBC News reported Friday.
Pete has apparently told close friends and associates about the idea. Trump, 80, is constitutionally term-limited.
Jennifer has had an uncharacteristically involved role in her husband’s job. The New York Times, citing 20 current and former administration officials and sources close to her, reported that she is his most influential adviser.
Jennifer has not only sat in on meetings with reporters and prepared Pete for appearances, but has reportedly also interviewed Defense Department job candidates and suggested ideas for department videos.
According to the Times, Jennifer has also been a fixture at the Pentagon amid concerns about Pete’s drinking. The former Fox News anchor’s past drinking nearly doomed his confirmation, as did his November 2024 claim that women shouldn’t have combat roles in the military.
Jennifer is Pete’s third wife. They began an affair—while each was married—in 2016, when they were working at Fox News. Jennifer was an executive producer at the right-wing network, and Pete was a Fox and Friends co-host. They divorced their respective spouses in 2017, and married in 2019.
Hegseth has attributed the positive changes in his life to “two Js”: Jennifer and Jesus.
“My Jenny, my wife, Jennifer, changed my life, saved me, there’s just no doubt about it,” he told former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in a December 2024 interview. “And without those two Js, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
If running for president is indeed in the cards for Hegseth, who has been targeting anything in the military he sees as “woke,” he will no doubt have to answer for overseeing several controversial elements of the Trump administration.
Besides the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, which some have cited as war crimes, there is the war in Iran, which polls show is unpopular. It is now in its seventh month, after Trump had said it would last just a few weeks. Hegseth last month estimated the cost to be $37.5 billion, and then asked Congress for another $70 billion.
To date, 18 U.S. service members have been killed in the war.
When reached for comment, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast, “Secretary Hegseth is not running for president, and his main priority is leading the War Department. All other speculation is foolish.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly did not directly address a potential presidential campaign by Hegseth.
“After Joe Biden’s Pentagon prioritized DEI and woke ideology, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly reversed course and restored a Department of War that is focused on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters,” she said in a statement to NBC. “Secretary Hegseth is doing an incredible job leading the Pentagon, and his results speak for themselves.”
However, as a pro-Trump operative with close White House ties told NBC, “MAGA really loves Hegseth because they love the cut of his jib. But you’ve got to deliver the goods. If you want to be secretary of war, you’ve got to win wars.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
