Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has a long history of distorting and denying climate research while on the air at the cable news channel. That tracks with Trump’s dismissal of global warming as a “hoax.”

Hegseth has laid down markers on his agenda for running the Pentagon: firing generals who promote “woke” military policies, eliminating combat roles for women and loosening reins on troops conduct in combat.