Pete Hegseth's Hair Is Now So Gray & Frozen He's Giving Jack Frost Vibes

Are those gray hairs or wisdom leaks?! On November 25, 2025, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth turned up at the White House Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon event in the Rose Garden sporting a head of hair so stiff and gray it was giving Jack Frost vibes. No, really. While hamming it up with his seatmate, Attorney General Pam Bondi (whose own brassy dry hair wasn't much better), his noticeably silvering mane stood out like a sore thumb, glistening in the sun and bristling against the wind, much like all of the red flags in his relationship history, including his third marriage to Jennifer Rauchet. And, something tells us his eagle-eyed, third-times-the-charm bride was waiting in the wings somewhere, keeping close watch on every gray hair on her famously philandering hubby's head — but that's neither here nor there (you can read more about all the messy rumors circling about Hegseth's marriage here).

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Don't just take our word for it. Plenty within the social media world were up in arms about the Secretary of War's seriously frosted locks, too. "It hasn't taken very long for Pete Hegseth to develop a healthy head of gray hair," one X user tweeted. Meanwhile, another quipped, "Omg! I just got it! Pete Hegseth looks just like Sonic the Hedgehog. Right down to the hair!! It's uncanny!" to which another user replied, "So do we call this maniac Pete Hedgehog?" Well played, people of the internet. Well played. 

It's no secret that Pete Hegseth has had a rough go of it since being nominated and eventually (and perhaps somewhat begrudgingly) appointed as President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense — er, um, we mean Secretary of War. As you may recall, shortly after being tapped as the then-president-elect's nominee, he was immediately thrust into scandal after scandal that rocked his reputation. It was the usual mixed bag of controversy, think: infidelity rumors, abuse claims, sexual assault allegations, and workplace alcohol abuse accusations. Alas, things only got worse for Hegseth once he was sworn in. In March, Hegseth really stepped into it when it was revealed that he had shared sensitive information about an upcoming strike on Yemen on his personal phone. Ruh-roh. Then, in December, he came under fire for allegedly committing war crimes stemming from a Venezuelan boat strike he ordered in September. 

Suffice to say, it's no wonder Hegseth's hair is so gray. He's been under a lot of stress. Just look at all the men in office before him, who went in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and left with a salt-and-pepper mop — or sometimes just plain salt (Barack Obama, we're looking at you). And don't even get us started on whatever is going on with Trump's aging hands. So much for aging like fine wine.