Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s tattoos decoded after Donald Trump picked him as new Secretary of Defense

Donald Trump’s left-field Secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth is covered in tattoos – and many of them have already proved controversial for the Fox News host. 

The veteran who served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq and is double Bronze Star holder and is a TV top presenter having fronted Fox and Friends since 2017.

Hegseth, who is 44, started adorning his body with tattoos only recently after his father dissuaded him from getting tattoos at a young age. 

He now has over a dozen tattoos across his right arm and chest. 

His appointment is one of the most unlikely in Trump’s new cabinet but this isn’t the first time he has courted controversy. 

In 2021 Hegseth was part of the Minnesota National Guard called to D.C. to guard Joe Biden during his inauguration but he was then ordered to stand down allegedly due to his chest tattoo of a Jerusalem Cross. 

In words reported by Newsweek, Hegseth said: ‘I was deemed an extremist because of a tattoo by my National Guard unit in Washington D.C. and my orders were revoked to guard the Biden inauguration.’

He joined the network in 2014  following an unsuccessful Senate run in Minnesota. 

Hegseth is said to have cultivated a friendship with Trump during the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show. 

Hegseth’s love of body art started while he was in High School but it would be decades before he got his first tat. 

Speaking to the Big Lead he said: ‘I always wanted tattoos. Thankfully, my father dissuaded me early in life because what I wanted out of high school was a basketball hoop with a flaming basketball going through the hoop. 

‘All I cared about was basketball, I played basketball in college, my dad was a basketball coach. ‘

He only got his first one  a few years back when the TV host decided to get his first ink whilst on vacation with his family.

Hegseth described the decision to get the tattoo as a ‘spur-of-the-moment’ after his wife Jen decided to get a small tattoo on her left bicep and after that he has continued to get more and more. 

Most of his body art represents his Christian faith, his American patriotism and his history in the US military.

Jerusalem Cross on his chest

The aforementioned Jerusalem Cross is one of his most distinctive tattoo. It consists of a large Christian cross surrounded by four smaller crosses in each quadrant.

It is an centuries old symbol stretching back to the 13th century where it was used as the symbol of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades. 

The cross has become more controversial in the 21st century due to its perceived links to Christian nationalism.  

‘Deus Vult’ on his bicep

Tattooed on his bicep, Hegseth has the phrase ‘Deus Vult’ which means ‘God will it.’ This was a phrase that originated from the First Crusade as a battle cry for Christians. 

In recent years the phrase have also been adopted by far-right groups. 

Hegseth’s book American Crusade, which he describes as a examination of what America would be like without American ideal,  also ends with ‘Deus Vult.’ 

Cross and sword on forearm

Other Christian iconography on his arm include a cross with a sword through it which represents the Matthew 10:34 verse of the bible. 

This reads: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’

This was the first tattoo he got while on vacation with his family. 

Hegseth also has a Chi-Ro symbol on his upper arm. This letters from the Greek alphabet: chi (which looks like an X) and rho (which looks like a P). They are also the first two letters of Christ in Greek. The monogram was a an early symbol used to represent Christians. 

‘We the people’ and 1775 also on forearm

His other tattoos mostly center around American patriotism and include many symbols and iconography associated with the USA’s independence movement. 

On his forearm he has ‘We the People’ which is the first line of the constitution. 

Above this tattoo he has the date 1775 in roman numerals – the same year that the American War of Independence started.

Hegseth’s elbow is surrounded by 13 stars which perhaps is a reference to the stars on the Betsy Ross flag – one of the first flags produced to represent the USA and the precursor to the moden star spangled banner.

‘Join or Die’ snake on inside of his forearm

He also has the iconic ‘join or die’ snake, which is earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by colonists in Colonial America, on his arm. 

The cartoon, allegedly drawn by Benjamin Franklin himself in 1754, was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette  shows a snake chopped into eight segments – rather than the 13 colonies – with New England included as one, Delaware a part of Pennsylvania and Georgia missing entirely. 

It later became a symbol of colonial freedom two decades later during the American revolution.

American flag and sniper rifle on the upper arm

He also has a modern depiction of the current flag with a sniper at the bottom of the stars and stripes. 

This tattoo could be a reference to the second amendment which Hegseth is a strong supporter of. 

Hegseth posted a picture of him receiving the body art on his Instagram at NYHC Tattoos in New York which is one of the oldest tattoo parlours in Manhattan.

Infantry Regiment patch also on the upper arm

One of his largest tatoos is situated just below his shoulder is  a patch used by the 187th Infantry Regiment of the US army which Hegseth was a member of. 

This was a glider infantry unit during the Second World War which later fought in the Korean War as part of the airborne regimental combat team. The regiment also fought in later wars such as Vietnam, the Gulf war and the Iraq war. 

During his interview with the Big Lead, Hegseth revealed he plans to fill his entire arm with tattoos and then ‘resist the temptation’ to get anymore. 

Trump’s appointment of Hegseth drew swift condemnation from many in Washington, with one veterans’ advocate branding him ‘undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for Defense Secretary in history’. 

Trump said yesterday: ‘With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down. Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ”Peace through Strength” policy.’

Hegseth’s appointment is a snub to former Democrat Congresswoman and Trump ally Tulsi Gabbard, who had said just hours before that she wanted the job.

It follows a string of heavily-scrutinized Trump appointments, including former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security, John Ratcliffe as CIA director, Mike Waltz as national security adviser and senior Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles as chief of staff.

But by far the most attention has gone to the tapping of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to oversee a new Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with ‘dismantling’ the $6.5 trillion federal government.

Alongside his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth served overseas in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.

His appointment could bring sweeping changes to the military, with the TV host passionately opposed to ‘woke’ diversity programmes and the role of women in combat. He has also backed pardoning service members charged with war crimes.

It will also add to Democrat fears Trump will use his powers as commander-in-chief to carry out a purge of generals, given Hegseth has previously demanded the sacking of top military leaders – including Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown.

‘First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,’ Hegseth told a podcast. ‘Any general that was involved, any general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI/woke s**t has got to go.’

On a recent appearance on Fox News, Hegseth made it clear that he felt Joe Biden’s White House – run by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin – was run by ‘pro-Palestinian millennials.’

‘What Israel is about to do is bring Hell down on Hamas. Israel is about to do real war. Israel will be stacking bodies because Netanyahu isn’t messing around,’ he said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth will inherit the top job during a series of global crises – ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East to escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Critics of his appointment have pointed to his lack of experience in high office.