Angle: US Defense Secretary candidate Hegseth has a tattoo on his upper arm that was deemed dangerous while in the National Guard

On January 14, 2021, US National Guard Sergeant Major Delico Gaither issued a statement regarding Pete Hegseth (pictured left), who was nominated by President-elect Trump (pictured right) to be Secretary Defense on November 15, 2021: “Very disturbing information. “There is a problem,” he warned in an email. Pictured at the White House in April 2017 (2024 Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US National Guard Sergeant Major Derico Gaither warns on January 14, 2021, “There is very disturbing information” regarding Pete Hegseth, whom President-elect Trump has nominated as Secretary of Defense. . The recipient was Major General William Walker, head of the Washington DC National Guard, who was helping to strengthen security in the capital for the inauguration of the Biden presidency on January 20, 2021.

Gaither said Hegseth had a tattoo on his upper arm that read “Deus Vult,” which an Internet search revealed to be a Christian phrase associated with right-wing extremism. “Deus Vult” means “God willing” in Latin, and was chanted by the crusaders of Christ in the Middle Ages.

Gaither included a shirtless photo of Hegseth, then a Fox News host, with another tattoo depicting a Jerusalem cross. The Jerusalem cross has recently been used by some far-right groups as a symbol of the battle for Western civilization.

“This fits the criteria for an insider threat,” said Gaither, a former National Guard security officer. Mr. Gaither has already retired from the National Guard. The text of the email was obtained by Reuters.

This previously unreported email appears to have been a turning point for Hegseth. He accepted it as a rejection from the army, which was no longer needed.

“The feeling went both ways,” Hegseth wrote in his book “I Didn’t Need the Army Anymore.”

The National Guard has not commented on Hegseth’s tattoos, his claims that he was targeted because of his religious or political beliefs, or whether he was fired from the D.C. National Guard. President Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, a former member of the DC National Guard (now retired) confirmed that Hegseth’s tattoos were the reason for the review, and that there was an email exchange within the Guard about the tattoos.

The former member said that while Hegseth had not been definitively identified as a terrorist, National Guard leaders were wary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol that Trump reportedly chose to wait for.

Trump’s nomination of Hegseth as Secretary of Defense surprised the United States government. Hegseth has criticized the policies of Pentagon officials in the past, calling them a “walk on social justice.” He opposed women being involved in combat, and questioned whether Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top uniformed officer of the US military, was in this position because he was black.

If confirmed by the US Senate as defense secretary, Hegseth could fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to remove generals he deemed “walkabouts” from the US military.

It remains unclear how Hegseth became an advocate against Walk. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that Hegseth reached a crossroads in January 2021.

Hegseth said on a podcast in October that he had been ordered to Washington to provide security for the president’s inauguration, but the day before he joined the D.C. National Guard, one of his senior officers called and said, “You can stand down. ”I don’t need you.

Mr Hegseth was not told at the time why he was no longer wanted, but said he contacted his former boss while writing his latest book. The book says:

“He said: I know 99.99% of the reason I told you not to come because I saw the email and went to the meeting, but I don’t want to see the Jerusalem cross tattoo on your chest because I knew someone you He called you a terrorist tattoo, and you were considered a possible extremist, especially as a white attorney general. “

In response, Hegseth said, “Maybe it’s because of the tattoos, maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s because I worked at FOX, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I support Trump, I don’t know. None of these things are irrelevant,” he wrote.

“There was a moment when I decided enough was enough,” he admitted.

Gaither made it clear that he made the right decision to send information about Hegseth’s tattoos up the chain of command and seek judgment from a higher level. He said his mission was to ensure the safety of the National Guard, saying, “I did what I had to do as a leader.”

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Phil Stewart has reported from more than 60 countries, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China and South Sudan. A national security reporter based in Washington, Phil has appeared on NPR, PBS NewsHour, Fox News and other programs and moderated national security proceedings, including at the Reagan National Defense Forum and the German Marshall Fund. He is the recipient of the Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Letters and the Joe Galloway Award.

National security correspondent focusing on the Pentagon in Washington DC Reports on US military activities and operations around the world and their impact. It has been reported from over two dozen countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, and much of the Middle East, Asia and Europe. From Karachi, Pakistan.