Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How Hegseth could reshape the Defense Department under Trump

Season 2024 Episode 319 | 6m 57s

For perspective on President-elect Trump's pick of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, Nick Schifrin spoke with James McPherson. He served as under secretary of the Army and as the Army's general council during the first Trump administration. He also had a 25-year career in the Navy and served as that service's top lawyer in uniform.

Major corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by Consumer Cellular and Cunard Cruise Line. For a complete list of funders for the PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour weekend, click here.
Extras
August 21, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode
U.S. ambassador responds to rising tensions between Israel, Turkey and Syria
From White House ballroom to IndyCar race, Trump's spectacles take center stage in D.C.
Paramount's Warner Bros. bid and threat to leave California divide Hollywood
U.S. Forest Service, timber companies spraying record amounts of glyphosate in California
Poorna Jagannathan and Amna Nawaz discuss representation in Hollywood on 'Settle In'
News Wrap: Defense rests in murder trial of Lindsay Clancy
Brooks and Capehart on how economic concerns defined the primaries
August 20, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode
5 years after the U.S. left, Afghan allies reflect on life under Taliban rule