Pete Hegseth's Iowa Trip Fuels 2028 Talk Around Donald Trump's 'Secretary of War'

Pete Hegseth’s trip to Iowa is setting off the kind of political chatter that usually follows presidential hopefuls, not sitting defense secretaries.

The former Fox News personality and current Defense Secretary traveled Monday to Iowa in his “personal capacity,” according to the Pentagon, to campaign for Rep. Zach Nunn. The stop immediately drew attention because Iowa has long been a proving ground for White House ambitions.

The Washington Post reported that officials familiar with Hegseth’s thinking believe he may be considering a future run for president or another political office after his time in serving in the administration of President Donald Trump.

The Pentagon told the Post Hegseth does “not proactively announce events” he attends personally. It also said he would use a U.S.-funded military aircraft because he is a “required use” traveler who must use military aircraft for official and unofficial trips for secure communications and national security needs.

The visit was originally scheduled five months earlier, but was postponed after several U.S. troops from Iowa were killed early in the war with Iran.

Hegseth also recently campaigned for Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, another early presidential primary state, and appeared for Kentucky congressional candidate Ed Gallrein in his successful primary challenge to Rep. Thomas Massie.

Defense secretaries do not typically travel around campaigning for congressional candidates.

Hegseth, 46, entered Trump’s Cabinet with a built-in MAGA profile from Fox News and a combative image that made him one of the administration’s most visible figures.

He faced early controversy, dubbed “Signalgate,” after The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat in which Hegseth shared sensitive details about military strikes against Iranian proxies in Yemen with top Trump administration officials. Signal is not generally authorized for official government communications.

His tenure has also included purges of military leadership, fights with the Pentagon press corps and criticism of conditions aboard ships deployed in the Iran war.

Any Hegseth presidential campaign would land in an already crowded and sensitive MAGA succession fight. Trump has repeatedly avoided settling the question of who should inherit his movement, while Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both been discussed as possible future standard-bearers.

Trump has also continued teasing the idea of a third term, despite constitutional limits.

A Cabinet secretary testing Iowa while Trump is still in office could be politically combustible for a president who prizes loyalty and dislikes being overshadowed.