Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Has a History of Drinking Alcohol at Work

Before Pete Hegseth was the secretary of defense, he was a weekend host on Fox & Friends. It's fair to say, then, that this is the most high-profile job he's ever had, which is why there was so much scrutiny on his nomination when Trump came out with it.

One of the main areas of Hegseth's life that was scrutinized during his confirmation process was his checkered history with alcohol. Now, following allegations that he might have been drinking something funny during a recent NATO press conference, many want to know more about his history with alcohol. Here's what we know.

Reporting from The New Yorker, which broke a major story about Hegseth in December of 2024, suggests that his alcohol use was a subject of concern among Hegseth's colleagues at Fox News.

NBC News added reporting of their own from two sources who said that Hegseth smelled of alcohol more than a dozen times before going on the air at the network. This is corroborated by reporting from his previous job.

“A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity — to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events,” The New Yorker reported.

The Fox employees also said that Hegseth's drinking remained a concern right up until his nomination by Trump.

Following these allegations, Hegseth said that he would stop drinking if confirmed, which he eventually was. We don't know whether he is still drinking or not, but Hegseth has always claimed that he does not have a drinking problem.

The past allegations suggest, though, that Hegseth was drinking regularly on the job, which is certainly not how most people behave at work.

Hegseth's alcohol history certainly colors how the public views his work as Secretary of Defense, and Rep. Jimmy Gomez made that connection even more explicit when he suggested that Hegseth might have leaked war plans to a journalist from The Atlantic because he was drunk. “To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?” Gomez asked Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe.

“I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits," Gabbard said, while Ratcliffe took offense at the line of questioning and said no.

There has been no reporting suggesting that Hegseth was drunk while he was messaging other administration officials about the plans to drop bombs in Yemen.

Hegseth's alcohol history suggests that, at least in the past, Hegseth has not always kept a clean line between his work life and his personal habits. While he may have promised to stop drinking once he became defense secretary, that promise is one that we cannot verify he followed through on, at least at this time.