WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump moved to build his national security team Tuesday, announcing he will nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense and former director of National Intelligence Officer John Ratcliffe will head the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a flurry of announcements, Trump said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be sent specifically to the Middle East. Trump also said he would nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security and named Bill McGinley, his cabinet secretary in his first administration, as a White House adviser.

Trump releases a steady stream of appointed and nominated for his incoming administration, working so far at a faster pace and without as much drama as his first transition after his 2016 victory. The selection of Hegseth, who lacks military or national security experience, was sure to draw questions about his qualifications his to lead the department.

Hegseth, 44, co-hosts Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor to the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who has made regular appearances on the show.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job amid a series of global crises — from Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah. and growing worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

FILE – Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., answers questions from the media before laying a brick on a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, August 1, 2018. President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former Gov. Arkansas Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel. Trump said Tuesday that Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and that his intended appointment comes as Trump vows to more closely align US foreign policy with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon . (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Oded Balilty

Hegseth is also the author of the book The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, published earlier this year, and has been outspoken about eliminating what he called “the wake” in the military.

The book, according to its promotion, combines “his own experiences of war, stories of outrage and an incisive look at how the chain of command has been so bent” and presents itself as “the key to saving our warriors and winning future wars. .”

While the Pentagon is considered a coveted key post in any administration, the secretary of defense has been a tumultuous post during Trump’s first term. Five men held the post in his four years only to resign, be fired, or serve briefly as casuals. Only two of them were actually confirmed by the Senate.

Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration as they struggled to temper or even interpret the presidential tweets and statements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they did not they were prepared to explain or defend them. Many of the generals who served in his first administration — both active duty and retired — criticized him as unfit to serve in the Oval Office and condemned him instead.

Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He previously headed Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota Senate in 2012.

He also argued his case four former Blackwater contractors convicted in a 2007 shooting spree in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. They were forgiven by Trump in one of his last acts in office.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — our military will be great again, and America will not back down,” Trump said in a statement. “No one fights harder for the troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace Through Strength’ policy.”

Hegseth has “excellent experience as a junior officer, but he lacks the senior national security experience secretaries need,” said Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think Trump got tired of fighting with his defense secretaries and picked one who was loyal to him.” Cancian said the lack of experience could make it more difficult for Hegseth to get past Senate confirmation.

Noem is a well-known conservative and former member of Congress who served her two terms leading a state to a prominent position in Republican politics. She herself has been considered a potential presidential candidate, but has declined to challenge Trump. Instead, she launched an open pitch to be elected vice president, but lost her mind when Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate.

If confirmed, Noem would lead an agency that is at the center of Trump’s immigration plans and has vowed to carry out mass deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally. There are approximately 11 million people in the country illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security is a sprawling 260,000-employee agency created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks with a broad area of ​​responsibility. It has been combined from 22 different agencies with the heavy task of preventing future attacks and is the subject of constant suggestions that it is too unwieldy and should be destroyed.

Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman from Texas, served as director of national intelligence in the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the US government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. He is a more traditional choice for the role, which requires Senate confirmation, than some loyalists pushed by some of Trump’s supporters.

Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel, and his intended nomination comes as Trump has vowed to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Witkoff is a Florida real estate investor who serves as chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee. He also spent time in the New York real estate world, where Trump first made his mark as a public figure.

As intelligence director, Ratcliffe was criticized by Democrats for declassifying in the final days of the 2020 presidential election Russian intelligence maintains damaging information about Democrats during the 2016 race, although it has acknowledged that it may not be true.

Ratcliffe’s visibility increased as he emerged in 2019 as a staunch defender of Trump during the first House impeachment proceedings against him. He was a member of Trump’s impeachment team and doggedly cross-examined witnesses during the impeachment hearings.

After the Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump, Ratcliffe said, “This is the thinnest, fastest, weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.” He also forcefully questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I look forward to John being the first person to serve in our nation’s highest intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement. “He will be a fearless fighter for the constitutional rights of all Americans while ensuring the highest levels of national security and PEACE THROUGH FORCE.”

Huckabee has led paid tour groups to Israel for years, frequently advertising the trips on conservative-leaning news outlets.

“Mike has been a great public servant, governor and faith leader for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel and the people of Israel, and so the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East!”

David Friedman, who was Trump’s ambassador to Israel in his first term, said he was “delighted” by Trump’s selection of Huckabee.

Witkoff is also the president-elect’s golf partner and was at his side when he was the target of a second assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September.

Trump’s transition team did not provide details on the role to be sent to the Middle East, but Trump said in a statement: “Steve will be an unyielding Voice for PEACE and will make us all proud.”

Witkoff’s selection follows a pattern for Trump of placing people close to him in key roles in the Middle East portfolio. Eight years ago, he appointed his former corporate lawyer Jason Greenbalt as special representative for international negotiations and relied on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as his personal envoy to talks in the region.

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Miller reported from Washington and Colvin reported from New York. Lolita C. Baldor, Rebecca Santana and Tara Copp in Washington contributed.

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