Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew loud applause at a Kentucky campaign rally yesterday (May 18) after breaking into a Donald Trump impression, while sharing the blunt guidance the president gave him before he stepped into the top Pentagon job.
Hegseth, 45, has now been in the role for about a year, following Trump’s return to the White House after the January 2025 inauguration.
The defense secretary post is more often held by long-serving government figures with extensive political or administrative backgrounds. Hegseth’s resume, however, is built on a different path: military service with deployments connected to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, followed by a high-profile media career as a Fox host.
He remains popular with many on the right and is widely seen as a close Trump ally—something on full display at a Kentucky rally held yesterday (May 16) in support of Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL running against Rep. Thomas Massie in the state’s Republican primary today (May 19).
During his remarks, Hegseth leaned into a Trump-style delivery that the crowd appeared to find hilarious.
“When he first offered me this job, he said, ‘Pete, you’re gonna have to be tough as s***,'” Hegseth said in Trump’s voice, pausing for laughter.
“‘They’re gonna come after ya’,” he continued in the president’s iconic tone.
Dropping the impression, he followed up in his normal voice: “And boy, was he right.”
After the moment circulated widely online, critics argued that it was improper for a sitting defense secretary to take part in campaigning for a partisan candidate.
One wrote: “Why is the secretary of defense campaigning? Isn’t this illegal? At best it’s highly inappropriate.”
As another added: “No military leader should campaigning. It’s unAmerican. Its unacceptable. It’s just gross. What are we doing?”
Trump has repeatedly targeted Massie—one of his most vocal Republican critics—on Truth Social, urging Kentucky voters to deny him another term.
Massie was also one of just two House Republicans who voted against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last summer, a move that prompted Trump to label him the “worst ‘Republican’ Congressman in history’.
In launching his bid, Gallrein promised to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the president if elected.
Hegseth, speaking in support of Gallrein, told the crowd: “War fighters understand mission, they understand teamwork, they understand loyalty, and they understand that in the middle of a fight, you don’t weaken your own side to advance to the objective, and that’s what Ed Gallrein understands, because he has lived it.”