Analysis: Why Pete Hegseth is a perfect fit to be Trump's Pentagon chief

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

74% : With his stomach for the partisan fight, apparent lukewarm regard for the Geneva Conventions and contempt for Washington power structures, he was the perfect avatar for the tear-it-all down second term that Trump craves.
57% : But Trump prefers performance to details.
52% : "Unfortunately, you lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of Secretary of Defense.
49% : "The primary question that (senators) are going to have to be able to arrive at a judgment is whether ... he can be trusted to tell the truth, because as secretary of Defense, your primary role is to tell the truth to the president, to the Congress to the American people.
48% : But Trump has reason to be cheerful.
46% : Hirono asked Hegseth whether he would "carry out an order from President Trump to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force, or would you comply with an order to take over the Panama Canal?"
45% : Hegseth struggles to answer Sen. Duckworth's question about ASEAN countriesPete Hegseth could hardly be more suited to be Donald Trump's secretary of Defense - even though he'd surely be deemed unqualified by any conventional president.
43% : And Hegseth fueled fears about Trump treating his power as unlimited.
42% : By the end of Tuesday, Joni Ernst, the Iowa Republican senator who expressed early reservations about Hegseth, announced she would back his confirmation in a victory for Trump.
41% : "It's great that a potential secretary of Defense is close to the troops.
38% : He replied with a non-sequitur, saying that Trump won "77 million votes to be the lawful commander-in-chief.
37% : She added: "I will be supporting President Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth."Her decision does not automatically eliminate a primary challenge, an Ernst adviser told CNN's Jeff Zeleny, but makes it far more difficult to criticize and confront the senator.Senate Majority Leader John Thune pledged to get Hegseth's nomination on the floor quickly if it's reported out of the committee, which Ernst's support makes nearly certain.Hegseth's combativeness and fealty to Trumpism energized Republicans in his defense, suggesting that might be the best strategy for other controversial picks like Kash Patel for the FBI and Kristi Noem for the Department of Homeland Security.
34% : He was more than ready to get a jump on the culture war Trump has picked him to wage against establishment generals and Pentagon diversity programs.
29% : He was all at sea over the geopolitics of East Asia, one of the world's most dangerous maritime hotspots, had no answers on how Trump would end the war in Ukraine and said very little about Middle East threats to US security.
19% : She asked whether he would "stand in the breach" and push back if Trump gave him an illegal order.
16% : "I reject the premise that President Trump would be giving any illegal orders," Hegseth said.

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