Hegseth held talks with U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey, before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Hegseth's predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wound down his European tour Friday in Poland, praising the country as an exemplary NATO partner and saying he would welcome having more American troops in the country.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during his first trip to Europe as Pentagon chief that the U.S. does not believe Ukraine’s membership to NATO “is a realistic outcome.”

Pentagon head Pete Hegseth defended Trump’s Ukraine negotiations with Putin and urged allies to ‘make Nato great again’.

The Defense Department says it’s cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place.

Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is 3%, nor is 4% — more like 5%,” the defense secretary said in a speech in Brussels.

As part of the Trump administration's wide-ranging overhaul of the US Pentagon, between 5-8% of probationary civilian workers will be fired.

The U.S. secretary of defense previously addressed allegations of excessive drinking during his January 2025 Senate confirmation hearing.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the military services to identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year in order to redirect those savings to fund President Donald Trump’s priorities.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Pentagon did not push same "globalist agendas" as USAID but welcomed DOGE "partnership" to find billions in waste.

Pete Hegseth, the new US Secretary of Defense, has stated that his previous remarks about Ukraine's NATO membership being unrealistic did not mean that Ukraine could not join the Alliance in the future.