Pete Hegseth was a controversial nomination by Donald Trump to serve as secretary of Defense right out of the gate.
His qualifications for the position were called into question by many, but now that he is in place, he has made some calls that have a lot of people scratching their heads on both sides of the aisle.
Hillary Clinton just went off on Hegeseth's “America First” agenda for the Pentagon, and she found herself an odd ally in a former Trump administration official.
Hegseth started to discuss a change in philosophy to traditional defense tactics several months ago, specifically regarding China.
His stance was interpreted as one that is softer on China so as not to provoke the Asian power, while also enlisting other allies to help pick up the slack.
Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., explained, "I do think we're likely to see a change in force posture on the peninsula. I think the administration has been starting to signal that pretty openly.”
He continued, "I think the message from the Trump administration is that all that matters is what South Korea does on China. And the reality is that U.S.-South Korea interests go far beyond what South Korea does on China."
The Trump administration has been taking some big hits of late, so Mrs. Clinton was more than happy to kick its officials in the belly while they are on the ground.
Regarding this new direction, she stated, "There seems to be a group within the Pentagon who are advocating for these spheres of influence … I think that’s a disaster. And I think it weakens us vis-à-vis our principal problem, which is… the Chinese Communist Party.”
Her position is rather ironic since Democrats took the stance back when Trump was running against Hillary that China was not the biggest threat to this country.
That, of course, was solely because Trump had stated that China was the nation he viewed as our greatest adversary at the time.
After Hillary’s comments were reported, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson responded, "Crooked Hillary is a globalist puppet who damaged America's credibility on the world stage as Secretary of State and a failed presidential candidate.”
The statement continued, “No one who is serious about putting America First should listen to her yapping. The Department is 100% focused on protecting the homeland, deterring China, and ushering in a new era of Peace Through Strength."
Former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, believes Mrs. Clinton hit the nail on the head. He stated, "I agree with almost everything Secretary Clinton said there. I want American values to dominate the world for the next 250 years … I want to influence every sphere of influence." He later added, "We shouldn’t use the word competition and the Chinese Communist Party in the same sentence… The Chinese Communist Party wants to cut our heads off. They killed 10 million people and didn’t lose a moment’s sleep when a virus was foisted around the world."
It is rather odd to see Pompeo and Clinton on the same page about anything, let alone policies involving China. This is shocking, to say the least. It makes me wonder whether Pompeo may be planning to take a run at the White House in 2028 to present an alternative to JD Vance, who is clearly the frontrunner right now and would have Trump’s full backing.
