Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is forging ahead with his war on waistlines.
Hegseth, who has rebranded himself as President Donald Trump’s “Secretary of War,” doubled down Sunday on his verbal attack on “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” capping off a week where he declared that, from now on, military leaders will need to meet height and weight standards and pass physical training (PT) tests each year.
During an interview on Fox News, the former anchor compared his tough-on-grooming stance to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s tough-on-crime policing strategy in the 1990s.
“If you don’t police the small stuff, if you let the beards go and the bellies go and the uniforms go and the fitness standards go, pretty soon the big stuff goes,” Hegseth, 45, said.
“Our whole military is premised on unit cohesion and unity of mission,” he said. “That’s why diversity is our strength. It’s such a dumb slogan—it’s the dumbest slogan of all time.”
The secretary’s rant was met with an onslaught of criticism last week, after he ordered hundreds of senior generals and admirals stationed worldwide to gather in person in Virginia—initially without any reason or explanation.
“We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans,” he said last week. “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” he added. “We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.”
The highly unusual directive required anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to appear at Marine Corps University at Quantico.
The move ultimately landed Hegseth on the receiving end of infinite punchlines, including during Saturday Night Live’s 51st season premiere.
Controversies have plagued Hegseth, who has limited military experience as a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard, even before he took on his role in Donald Trump’s cabinet.
After he returned from deployment, he was accused of mismanagement while running veterans’ nonprofits, according to a bombshell report in The New Yorker that came out last December during Hegseth’s Senate confirmation process.
Hegseth has also been accused of drinking excessively on the job, an allegation that was later backed up by some of his former colleagues at Fox, where he anchored Fox and Friends Weekend from 2017 to 2024.
And Hegseth’s personal life isn’t exactly clean-shaven, either. The secretary has been married three times—he became involved with both his second and third wives while still married to previous partners—and has four biological children and three step-children.
“The purpose of America’s military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It’s to protect our Republic.” – @POTUS.Earlier this morning, President Trump, @SecWar, and Chairman of @thejointstaff Gen. Dan Caine delivered remarks to all general officers and admirals on @MCB_Quantico,… pic.twitter.com/4ikGCY0Vac
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) September 30, 2025
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