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First on FOX News: Nearly a week after U.S. Military Academy West Point admitted it made a mistake when officials said Pete Hegseth’s application was not accepted, President-elect Donald Trump Pentagon Secretary-designate told FOX News Digital. I have not heard directly from the school yet.
“Let’s just say I haven’t heard from West Point,” Hegseth said Tuesday. “there is nothing.”
When asked if he wanted a direct apology from the school, the former Fox News host said, “I’m sure some people would like that.”
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Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth has not yet heard from West Point Military Academy. (Getty)
ProPublica senior editor and reporter Jesse Eisinger explained to the magazine last week that he was twice informed by West Point that Hegseth had not even applied for admission at X. Eisinger said he was “100 percent” unable to get into the school “because they didn’t open the file.”
However, Hegseth applied to West Point and was accepted in 1999, but never attended.
The Secretary of Defense told ProPublica he plans to provide the original letter of admission to the academy and that Eisinger approached West Point again, which acknowledged the mistake.
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Pete Hegseth (center) tours the Capitol. (Tom Williams)
West Point said in a statement: “A review of our records shows that Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend. A false statement was made by an employee on December 10th.” , 2024.
“After further review of the archived database, the employee found this statement to be false. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a member of the Class of 2003. We take this situation seriously and apologize for this administrative error.”
When Mr. Hegseth learned of the article ProPublica was working on, he publicly shared his acceptance letter with X. “We understand that ProPublica (a left-wing hacking group) plans to publish a deliberately false report that says I failed the West.” Point in 1999. This is my letter of acceptance signed by the West Point Superintendent, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman. ”
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The “mistake” at West Point left many Republicans with questions. In a Dec. 11 letter to U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Stephen Gilland after Hegseth exposed the ProPublica article, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, wrote, We understand that Teresa Brinkerhoff provided the following information to the United States Military Academy.” The reporter said that this does not apply to West Point, as Mr. Hegseth has said publicly in the past, but this statement is not only wrong; Hegseth applied, and he too was accepted into the West Point class of 2003. ”
“Worse still, this statement could violate Mr. Hegseth’s rights under the Privacy Act of 1974 by revealing protected personal information. If true, this statement could violate Mr. Hegseth’s rights under the Privacy Act of 1974. “Sharing such information about a person with known liberal media outlets would be demonstrating gross misjudgment,” ProPublica said. ”
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Sen. Tom Cotton immediately sent a letter to West Point pointing out the error. (Photographer: Ting Sheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also requested information in his own letter last week about how the error occurred. The senator-elect sent a letter to Gilland asking him to provide “all communications and documentation regarding how the West Point OPA falsely accused Mr. Hegseth of lying regarding his application.”
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The school official’s mistake came as Hegseth continued to attend meetings with senators on Capitol Hill in hopes of being confirmed as President Trump’s secretary of defense in 2025.
West Point did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.
Julia Johnson is a political writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, where she leads coverage of the U.S. Senate. She previously served as a political reporter for the Washington Examiner.
Follow Julia’s reporting on X. @juliaajohnson_ Send your tips to Julia.Johnson@fox.com.
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