Pete Hegseth has banned Pentagon officials from speaking at a security conference because it promotes “evil globalism”. Senior figures in the US defence department were set to speak at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado this week, following a tradition under both Democrat and Republican administrations.

On July 29, NBC reported that Hegseth has "privately discussed the idea of running for political office." While the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell denied any idea of Hegseth vying for the governorship in Tennessee,