U.S. Vice President Vance assessed the abilities of new Pentagon chief Hegseth

The new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is a disruptor, and while many people don't like that disruption, the U.S. needs it. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said this on January 26 in his first interview for Face the Nation, CBS News.

"The main thing we want from Pete Hegseth is to fix the problems in the Department of Defense. And unfortunately, there are a lot of them. We've gotten into too many wars that we don't have a plan to win. We've gotten into too many adventures that we shouldn't have gotten into to begin with. And our procurement process is significantly broken," he announced.

He also added that the Pentagon should make a "top-to-bottom" change in weapons procurement funding and overhaul the arming of U.S. troops, with a strong focus on developing artificial intelligence and drone technology.

"We buy airplanes for billions and billions of dollars, terrible cost overruns, deliveries are always delayed. So we need a big change. <...> This is an important period, and we believe Pete Hegseth is the right person to lead this effort," he concluded.

The Fifth Corner: what Trump intends to "clean up" the Pentagon for

Army loyalty is a key element of the 47th U.S. president's strategy

Earlier, on January 25, Hegseth announced that he plans to work on strengthening the military-industrial complex (MIC) and improving deterrence. According to him, it is necessary to restore the level of deterrence and strengthen both ground and air forces. He mentioned that one of the main objectives would be to deter China.

On this day, the U.S. Senate of Congress confirmed Hegseth's nomination for the post of Secretary of Defense. The deciding vote was that of Vice President Jay Dee Vance.

At the same time, in correspondence with the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth responded to a question from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts about sexual assault allegations. He denied the allegations but confirmed that he paid the plaintiff $50,000 to reach a pre-trial settlement.

On January 20, the specialized congressional committees on intelligence and armed forces voted in favor of President Donald Trump's nominations of Pete Hegseth to head the Pentagon and John Ratcliffe to head the CIA.

On the same day, Trump took the oath of office in the rotunda of the Capitol, becoming the 47th President of the United States, reports "Gazeta.Ru". Along with him, Vice President Jay Dee Vance was sworn in. This is the second presidential term of Trump, the first time he was the American leader in 2017-2021. In his inaugural speech, the new US president announced the beginning of the "golden age of America".

Later the same day, Trump signed the first decrees and orders on appointments to the government. In addition, the head of state signed an order according to which the flags over government buildings were never lowered during the presidential inauguration. Until this morning, the flag was lowered in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away last month.