Pete Hegseth has made a startling admission that he would never let Stephen Miller babysit his children, which was made even more awkward as the comment came during an interview with Miller’s wife, Katie.
The Secretary of defense made the comments on The Katie Miller Podcast, after the titular host, who previously served as deputy press secretary during Trump’s first administration, asked him, “Who would you trust to babysit your kids?” clarifying that it had to be another member of the Cabinet.
Instead of immediately saying who he would trust, Hegseth opted to point out who in the Cabinet he wouldn’t trust.
“I mean, not your husband or Marco,” Hegseth responded, referring to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Hegseth, his wife Jennifer Rauchet—who was sitting next to him—and Katie Miller then burst into fits of laughter to smooth over the awkward answer before the secretary of defense actually answered the question.
“I would trust the vice president. I mean, I’ve known Sean Duffy for years,” he said. “I would trust him.”
In addition to Duffy and JD Vance, Hegseth said he would also trust Brooke Rollins, Pam Bondi and Tulsi Gabbard, but left out key figures in the second Trump administration like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kristi Noem and Scott Bessent.
Hegseth did not elaborate on why he would not trust Stephen Miller or Rubio with his children, but did say he thought Rubio was likely to get “totally rolled” by his children. Hegseth and his second wife, Samantha Deering have three children, Gunner, Boone, and Rex, while he has a daughter, Gwen, from his third marriage to Jennifer Rauchet. He is also a stepfather to Rauchet’s three children, Jackson, Luke, and Kenzie.
Miller himself shares three children with his wife, Katie. While Rubio has four children with his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio.
The strange comments regarding two of Trump’s top allies comes as Hegseth is in hot water regarding the controversial U.S. deadly strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on Sept. 2.
Over the course of a string of around 20 military attacks on alleged drug boats that have claimed over 80 lives, the U.S. conducted two drone strikes on one boat. The Washington Post reported that after the first blast, two people clung to the side of the burning boat. However, a second strike to the boat killed the two initial survivors.
The outlet later reported that Hegseth gave the command to “kill everybody,” condemning the 11 people on board and causing outrage from the public, with accusations of the event being “a war crime.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also raised concerns about the strike.
This instance, however, is not Hegseth’s first scandal since joining Trump’s Cabinet. Previously, he included a journalist in a Signal group chat where he leaked secret military plans and fired top military lawyers to remove “roadblocks” to the Trump administration’s agenda.
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