U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, met with President Trump’s nominee to serve as the next Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
During the meeting, the two exchanged views on a range of critical national defense topics, including the military challenge posed by the Chinese Communist Party, continued instability in Europe, and the growing threats of adversaries such as China, North Korea, and Iran.
Senator Wicker expressed his view – informed by the studied analysis of many defense experts – that the United States faces the most dangerous national security moment since World War II. He also raised the shared Trump-Wicker ‘peace-through-strength’ strategy as a way to confront this moment. Senator Wicker and Hegseth also discussed his nomination.
“It was good to meet with Pete Hegseth. We discussed his nomination as Secretary of Defense and the thorough process the committee will go through to consider his selection properly. I will continue to be supportive of the president-elect’s nominees,” Senator Wicker said. “Mr. Hegseth and I also discussed how deterring the ‘Axis of Aggressors’ will require making important improvements at the Pentagon. Specifically, we talked about the need to increase our investments and simultaneously change the Pentagon’s acquisition bureaucracy, among many other policies.”
