Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly powdered his nose with his personal supply of makeup ahead of meeting a world leader, conscious that President Donald Trump might be watching.
Hegseth, 45, quit his role as a Fox News host after Trump nominated him to lead the Pentagon in November last year. He later rebranded himself the “Secretary of War.”
A new investigation by The New York Times examines the early days of Hegseth’s career at the DoD, including his swearing in on Jan. 25, 2025, and his crash course on European politics.
Trump had said he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine on “day one” of his second term as president, putting pressure on his new, and untested, appointee.
A former Pentagon official told the New York Times that Hegseth “didn’t have any of his own thoughts on Russia and Ukraine. But he had civilian advisers who did.”
In February, Hegseth headed to Europe to attempt to implement Trump’s desire for a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Hegseth met with Ukraine’s defense minister Rustem Umerov on Feb. 12. The Times reports an American official present witnessed the former TV presenter dabbing his nose with powder from a small makeup compact.
Hegseth, who was aware that his handshake with Umerov may be shown on Fox News—and that Trump could be watching—was reported to have told one staffer: “Look commanding.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
As a former TV host, Hegseth is no stranger to being touched up for the cameras.
In April, two months after his cosmetically-enhanced NATO meeting and shortly after sharing plans for a U.S. strike on Yemen in an unencrypted Signal chat, Hegseth vehemently denied a CBS report that he had ordered a green room next to the Pentagon briefing room be remodeled to be a purpose-built makeup studio ahead of television appearances.
The renovation reportedly cost several thousand dollars, and took place at a time when the Trump administration was looking to cut budgets.
One source told CBS that additions included a new director’s chair and a large mirror fitted with makeup lights.
A Defense official said Hegseth does his own makeup rather than paying for a makeup artist, which the Times article backs up by citing his use of his personal compact to powder his nose.
Hegseth hit back on his X account at the time, calling the CBS News report a “totally fake story.”
“No ‘orders’ and no ‘makeup’—but whatever,“ he wrote, following that up with a characteristic jab at the press.
“We should have installed tampon machines in every men’s bathroom at DoD instead,” he added. “The leftist ‘news’ media would have loved that.”
At the time, Hegseth had supported DOGE cuts in spending, signing a memo in March titled “Continuing Elimination of Wasteful Spending at the Department of Defense,” which terminated more than $580 million in what was deemed “wasteful spending” on the department’s contracts and grants.
A Defense Department official told Vanity Fair that Hegseth’s glam makeover was originally quoted to cost in the “$10,000 to $15,000 range,” but they cut costs by using found materials and focusing on “recycled furniture modifications—a director’s style chair, mirror, and a makeup light—all of which were added from existing inventories.“
They added, “A countertop was added and constructed internally by the Facilities Services Directorate, Washington Headquarters Services.”
The official said the upgrade was used for “solutions that provide the Secretary and other VIPs the needed support and space for on-camera press engagements.”
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