On April 25, United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer Hegseth, turned heads at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., for her choice of fashion.
According to WWD, Jennifer wore a $42 blush-pink dress with a matching satin off-the-shoulder detailing. Social media sleuths have now found that the dress is available on the Chinese fast-fashion portal Shein, earning her online mockery.
For instance, X influencer Suzie Rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) wrote:
“Pete Hegseth’s wife wore a SHEIN dress to the WHCD & this isn’t the first time she’s worn SHEIN! I personally have no problem with her wearing economical clothing, but her ‘America First’ husband has made his views & criticisms known about Chinese fast-fashion, which is Hypocrisy!”
Meanwhile, others have identified it as a $20 dress from another e-commerce site, Temu, which seemingly sources its products from China. Parsons’ English and photography student Ella Devi wrote on X with a side-by-side image of Jennifer Hegseth and her dress from the Temu site:
“Pete Hegseth’s wife wore a dress from Temu to the White House Correspondents’ dinner (I’m not joking).”
Jennifer Hegseth, 41, is a former producer at Fox News. She met her husband when they both worked for the network, ahead of his political career.
According to the Daily Mail, Jennifer Hegseth’s viral dress is also available on Amazon for $14.
Jennifer Hegseth: Life, career, and more
When Pete Hegseth began co-hosting Fox and Friends in 2017, he crossed paths with the show’s executive producer, Jennifer Rauchet. They were both married to other people at the time. However, when Jennifer gave birth to their daughter, Gwendolyn, in August 2017, both marriages collapsed.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Rauchet moved on from Fox and Friends and joined Jesse Watters’ Watters’ World as a producer, as soon as her affair with Pete Hegseth made headlines.
She also produced other programs for the network, including Heroes of Hamburger Hill (2020), The Miseducation of America (2022), and Poison Ivy (2024).
The pair tied the knot at Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck, New Jersey, in August 2019. The guest list included Donald Trump and their former Fox News colleague Sean Hannity.
Since then, they have been part of a blended family with their seven children. Pete has three kids, Bonner, Gunner, and Rex, from his second marriage to Samantha Deering, while Jennifer, too, has three children from her first marriage.
In fact, the couple often shares pictures with all seven children, including a Fourth of July group photo in 2021. They also celebrate other holidays and sporting events together. Jennifer Hegseth and their kids were also present when Pete Hegseth took the oath as the Secretary of Defense in January 2025.
A month before that, Jennifer Hegseth stood by her husband when a woman accused him of s*xual assault at the 2017 California Federation of Republican Women biennial conference at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, California.
While Pete denied the accusation and said the act was “consensual,” he settled the matter with $50,000, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Rauchet wrote on Instagram:
“They won’t stop with Pete. It’s not him they’re after. It’s your values. We won’t back down.”
In March 2025, Jennifer Hegseth was accused of being involved in sensitive and confidential Pentagon conversations, for which she didn’t have clearance. As per The New York Times report, Pete, Jennifer, his brother Phil, and attorney Tim Parlatone were all part of a Signal group chat where the Defense Secretary allegedly divulged details of a strike in Yemen.
At the time, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told CNN that Rauchet:
“Never attended a meeting where sensitive information or classified information was discussed… She is an incredibly accomplished woman and a leader. She is a trusted adviser to her husband and an advocate for military families.”
About Pete Hegseth’s bilateral meeting with UK Defense Secretary John Healey, Wilson added:
“She exited the meeting before any sensitive and classified discussions occurred.”
Meanwhile, Pete appeared on Fox and Friends and claimed:
“What was shared over Signal, then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordination, for media coordination, other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.”
Pete Hegseth’s first wife, Meredith Schwarz, was his high school sweetheart from Minnesota. They were married for four years (2004-2008) during which he admitted to having multiple affairs, according to The New Yorker.
Between 2010 and 2017, Pete was married to Samantha, whom he met while working on Vets for Freedom.
Edited by Pallavi K