Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) conducts a prayer as US President Donald Trump (R) listens during a dinner with state governors in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2026.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) conducts a prayer as US President Donald Trump (R) listens during a dinner with state governors in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2026.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth invited Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson, who opposes a woman's right to vote, to preach at the Defense Department earlier this year.

Six months before, Hegseth attended the first service of a new church set up in Washington by Wilson's small Idaho-based denomination, called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC).

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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