10 Pictures of Pete Hegseth From the 'Unflattering' Batch the Pentagon Reportedly Doesn't Want You to See

[milestogo]

These may be the last press photos of U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that we see for a while.

On March 2, roughly two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran, Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a press briefing to discuss the hostilities. The event reportedly led to a further escalation in the ongoing battle between the Pentagon and its press corps due to allegedly “unflattering” photos of Hegseth.

According to a report from The Washington Post that was published on Wednesday, following the event, press photographers were barred from subsequent briefings on the war. The Post cited “two people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation” who said the ban came down because Hegseth’s staff deemed photos from the March 2 event to be “unflattering.”

Prior to the March 2 briefing, Hegseth, a firebrand former Fox News anchor, had not appeared behind the Pentagon podium since last June. Under Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon enacted new restrictions for reporters that limit access on unauthorized information. The new rules led many of the media organizations who have traditionally covered the armed forces to turn in their access badges and abandon workspaces in the building. In their absence, the Pentagon has credentialed a new wave of largely partisan outlets.






See more at: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/slideshow-10-pictures-of-pete-hegseth-from-the-unflattering-batch-the-pentagon-reportedly-doesnt-want-you-to-see

Its not so much that the pix are unflattering. Its more that you're a mean and ugly sonuvabitch.

[Walleye]

1. It seems that Republican men are always just ugly

[yardwork]

19. And very, very insecure.

[MustLoveBeagles]

25. A lot seem to be entitled man babies

[Walleye]

29. Yes, it's not the men I have a problem with.It's overgrown 12-year-old boys-who they are men. i

[allegorical oracle]

31. So are most really rich guys...Bozos, the Zuck, Musk, the Ellisons, Trump, etc. nt

[senseandsensibility]

2. For someone as into his looks as Hegseth apparently is

the aging process is not going to be easy. Maybe he'll do a male version of the mar a lago face?

[jmowreader]

28. I don't think he would

If he was really all that interested in how pretty he is, he would have had those two moles removed from his forehead and gone on Botox for his extreme forehead wrinkles already.

[Blues Heron]

3. It's on him. Maybe if he would drop the mocking sarcastic bullying tone it wouldn't manifest on his face

[City Lights]

4. Cameras don't lie, Pete.

You're one ugly mutha.

[cachukis]

5. Wondering if the contemplation is, this is how I look?

And then says I love my allegiance, but it doesn't make me look good. He did go to Princeton.
He has sold his shtick a few times and has to have learned something.
We tire of his show, but it fills us in.
I tire of this crowd and their rhetoric.
Sifting the lies,
We discern.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

6. Looks like he addicted to meth

and ETOH

[republianmushroom]

7. It is tough trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.

Most photos don't lie until they are retouched.

[mwmisses4289]

8. There isn't any way to take a flattering pic of you, dude.

[usonian]

9. And not this one?

[progressoid]

15. +1

[Prairie Gates]

10. If you throw on some frameless glasses and get rid of the testosterone-supplement muscles

and the trailer park style sensibility, he bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Robert McNamara.

[milestogo]

16. That would only be a surface resemblance.

I recently read a biography on Robert McNamara. He had the worst job in the world for 7 years. He was not uncaring or indifferent. He thought they could win in VietNam. He was wrong, but he was no monster like this guy.

[Prairie Gates]

17. Not a monster like this guy

A different kind of monster.

[GenThePerservering]

20. No testosterone supplement in those muscles

He's just averagely muscular for a guy who goes to the gym. He has to flex until his eyes pop to look 'big'.

[dalton99a]

11. Stupid and ugly.

[Wonder Why]

12. In the future, when posting such disgusting pictures, please include a warning.

[Aussie105]

13. Who would have thought that being

a firebrand former Fox News anchor, would qualify him for his current job?

Trump did, for unknown reasons not having anything to do with skills beyond bluff & bluster.
Or is that all it takes?

[wnylib]

24. Those are the "skills: that have top priority

for the bloviator in the WH.

[littlemissmartypants]

14. When you're nothing but...

Ugly on the inside, it's impossible to look better than that on the outside.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. If you can't take the heat from the spotlights, stay off the catwalk. nt

[GenThePerservering]

21. Trump probably thinks he looks like 'Central Casting'

With his slick hair and that overhanging simian brow.

[FakeNoose]

22. Receding hairline? I don't know, these photos don't look any different from all the others we've seen

I think he must be getting an earful of criticism from Chump about his looks. All Chump ever does is watch TV and criticize whomever is on there. It's never about what they said, it's always about how they look.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. MaddowBlog-Pentagon puts restrictions on photographers, adding to Hegseth's anti-press campaign

Whether the secretary realizes it or not, it’s not the photographers who are making him look bad.

Whether Hegseth realizes this or not, it’s not photographers who are making him look bad.

He’s managing to do that all on his own.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-12T14:44:53.756Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pentagon-puts-restrictions-on-photographers-adding-to-hegseths-anti-press-campaign

When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke in the Pentagon briefing room on the third day of the war in Iran, he was an unfamiliar sight: It was the first time the former Fox News host had appeared in the room since June. Not surprisingly, media photographers took a barrage of pictures of the secretary at the briefing.

That ordinarily wouldn’t be especially notable, except in this instance, the developments led the Defense Department to make some unexpected changes. The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has barred press photographers from war briefings after Hegseth’s staff deemed published images of the secretary “unflattering.” From the article:

Several outlets including the Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images sent photographers to the briefing from Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But after they published photos — which have broad reach because they are licensed by publications globally — members of Hegseth’s staff told colleagues that they did not like the way that the secretary looked. Hegseth’s aides decided to shut out photographers from the two subsequent briefings at the Pentagon, on March 4 and March 10, according to the two people familiar with the decision.

....But the shift on photographers pushes the broader effort to a new and more embarrassing level: The Defense Department isn’t just concerned about substance, it now seems to be focused on appearances.

For all of Hegseth’s rhetoric about the importance of “lethality,” the secretary and his team continue to indulge in an endless parade of distractions. In the days leading up to the U.S. military offensive in Iran, Hegseth spent his time distancing the Defense Department from some of the nation’s leading universities while whining about “wokeness,” feuding with Anthropic over artificial intelligence safeguards, and forcing Scouting America to abandon programs and policies aimed at promoting diversity.

Now, while the Pentagon is ostensibly focused on ongoing operations in the Middle East, he and his team are taking time for reprisals against photographers over “unflattering” images of the secretary.

The gap between Hegseth’s tough-guy posturing and his real-world efforts is large and growing. Whether Hegseth realizes this or not, it’s not photographers who are making him look bad. He’s managing to do that all on his own.

[Raven123]

26. If the press attends future briefings, they should just use the old photos

[jmowreader]

27. Please tell me something, and be honest...

Pete Hegseth is too ugly for radio. How in hell did he get a job at Fox News? It's not like there aren't plenty of physically attractive people who hold the same political views he does.

[karynnj]

30. He's so vain. Looking at the two photos, I recognized him

They were well within the norm of how he looks in videos. Maybe all his mirrors are in rooms with dimmed flattering light.

Frankly, he is not a handsome guy.

[allegorical oracle]

32. He's cursed with having a rubbery face. Nothing a gallon of Botox can't fix. nt