Oped: Why Pete Hegseth Will Make a Terrible Secretary of State

The idea of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of State is like putting a bull in a china shop, blindfolding it, and handing it a flamethrower for good measure. We're talking about a man who still sees the world through a blast-shielded helmet, charging through it like a soldier under fire in some godforsaken desert. He has the mindset of a warrior, a talking head who came straight out of Fox News central casting, and not one molecule of him is wired for diplomacy. Diplomacy is the art of whispers and sidesteps; Hegseth deals in bullhorns and battering rams.

Hegseth at State would be a foreign policy wrecking ball, crashing through the marble halls of the world's delicate power balance with a loud "America First" chant and a pocketful of right-wing talking points. This is a man who believes in blunt-force patriotism, not the delicate balancing act of global relations. Imagine him in a room full of seasoned diplomats, heads of state, ancient foreign ministers—the type of men who've spent decades playing a high-stakes chess game, moving one piece at a time. And there's Hegseth, barreling in with his bright ideas to "tell it like it is," likely infuriating our allies and giving our adversaries a reason to dance.

This man doesn't do subtle. You can't ask him to walk the tightrope between military might and diplomacy. For Pete, the answer to everything is a show of force, a wall, a wire, or a warning. You think the Russians or Chinese will feel intimidated by that? Not a chance. They'll smile and watch him toss U.S. credibility and subtle influence out the window with every trigger-happy quip and half-baked policy. We'd see international relations unravel in record time, the subtle dance of alliances and treaties replaced with a blaring mess of populist slogans and chest-pounding bravado.

Hegseth as Secretary of State? It's an international incident waiting to happen—a jackhammer in the garden of diplomacy, a neon sign flashing "Dangerous Amateur" over the door of American foreign policy.