Donald Trump likes to boast that Pete Hegseth, the man he plucked from his role as a weekend host on Fox News and made his Defence Secretary, looks like he has come straight out of “central casting”.
Hegseth had served in the military, but had little experience of its more senior ranks – instead devoting himself to a TV career following his army service. Trump, though, seemed more interested in what he described as Hegseth’s movie star good looks than his behind-the-scenes experience.
The reality TV president had found his camera-friendly defence counterpart. The trouble for Hegseth is that there is nothing reality TV likes more than a fight – and the Washington Post reports that Trump and Hegseth have been locked in some fierce shouting matches indeed.
The reports centre on a showdown at the President’s Camp David retreat, during which Trump and Hegseth reportedly clashed over the USA’s rapidly diminishing stockpiles of munitions – particularly those essential for intercepting incoming missiles, vital to defend US bases and allies against attacks.
The US has maintained large stockpiles of such defensive weapons against the possibility of future wars with Russia or China, while Ukraine has also been desperate to get its hands on as many as possible to help defend itself against Russia. But the depletion of the US stockpiles caused by its war with Iran has been huge: reports suggest at least 1,000 Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) air defence missiles were used in the first month of the conflict alone.
