Samantha Hegseth — born Samantha Deering on January 1, 1970, in Minneapolis, Minnesota — is a former political advocate and the second ex-wife of Pete Hegseth, the 29th United States Secretary of Defense. She and Pete were married from 2010 to 2017, raising three sons together. She currently works at Liberty Classical Academy in Minnesota, the same school her children attend, and has maintained an almost complete public silence since her divorce.
When Pete Hegseth was nominated as Defense Secretary in late 2024, Samantha’s name was thrust back into national headlines through no choice of her own. She has made exactly one public statement since — a single sentence denying physical abuse in her marriage — and has refused to say another word publicly. That restraint, given everything swirling around her, tells you a great deal about who she is.
Quick Bio: Samantha Hegseth at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Samantha Deering Hegseth |
| Date of Birth | January 1, 1970 |
| Birthplace | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Education | Not publicly disclosed |
| Former Profession | Spokesperson, Vets for Freedom |
| Current Role | Staff member, Liberty Classical Academy, Minnesota |
| Marriage to Pete | June 2010 – 2017 (divorce finalized 2018) |
| Children | Gunner Hegseth (b. 2010), Boone Hegseth (b. 2012), Rex Brian Hegseth (b. 2016) |
| Remarried | No (as of 2025) |
| Spousal Support | $17,000/month from Pete Hegseth |
| Public Profile | Deliberately minimal |
Early Life & Background
Samantha grew up in Minneapolis and has kept the details of her upbringing entirely private. Her educational background has never been publicly disclosed, and she appears to have preferred it that way long before the media became interested in her.
What is known is that she was professionally active in conservative political advocacy in Washington D.C. during the mid-2000s. She worked as a spokesperson for Vets for Freedom — a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, focused on political advocacy for military policy. The organization operated on donations from major donors including the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson and was tax-exempt and non-partisan in its structure.
That’s where she met Pete Hegseth. He was the executive director. She was a spokesperson. By all accounts, the relationship developed naturally from that professional connection.
How She Met Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth’s romantic history is complicated. His first wife, Meredith Schwarz, filed for divorce in 2009. According to reporting from The Independent, it was around this time that Pete and Samantha began dating — while Pete was working at Vets for Freedom and Samantha was still employed there as a spokesperson.
Their relationship moved quickly. Gunner, their first son, was born before the wedding. The couple married in June 2010 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia — a formal, traditional ceremony that appeared to signal stability and commitment.
At the time, Pete was building a public profile as a conservative media commentator. Samantha was, by all accounts, a private person who had no particular interest in that world. That tension — between his growing public ambitions and her preference for private life — would define much of their marriage.
Marriage, Family & Life in Minnesota
The couple settled in Minnesota and built a family there. After Gunner came Boone in August 2012, and Rex Brian arrived in 2016 — just a year before the marriage fell apart.
Three boys, six years apart in age from oldest to youngest. By the time Rex was born, the marriage was already in serious trouble.
Pete was frequently in New York and Washington for his Fox News work while Samantha and the boys were in Minnesota. A former Fox colleague described Pete’s behavior during that period to The New Yorker in notably blunt terms — saying he “had a kind of what-happens-in-Vegas-stays-in-Vegas kind of attitude” when away from his family, and describing him as a heavy drinker who was “very handsy with women.”
Pete has consistently denied these characterizations.
The Divorce: 2017–2018
Samantha and Pete separated in 2017. The divorce was finalized in July 2018 by a Minnesota state court.
The reason — confirmed through multiple reporting sources — was Pete’s affair with Jennifer Rauchet, a Fox News producer who later became his third wife in 2019.
The divorce decree included several notable provisions:
| Divorce Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Filing Year | 2017 |
| Finalized | July 2018 |
| Primary Cause (reported) | Pete’s affair with Jennifer Rauchet |
| Spousal Support | $17,000/month to Samantha |
| Non-Disparagement Clause | Both parties barred from public disparaging statements about each other |
| Derogatory Comments Provision | Neither parent can say anything negative about the other in front of the children |
| Custody | Shared arrangement for three sons |
| Pete’s 2018 Divorce Statement | Neither party claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse |
The non-disparagement clause is significant. It legally binds both Samantha and Pete from making public statements that disparage the other. This is not a full NDA — Pete’s attorney was careful to clarify the distinction during the Senate confirmation hearings — but it meaningfully constrains what Samantha can say publicly even if she wanted to.
That context matters enormously when reading her silence.
The Affidavit & National Spotlight: January 2025
When Donald Trump nominated Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense in late 2024, Samantha’s past was pulled back into public view by someone else entirely.
Danielle Hegseth — formerly married to Pete’s brother — submitted a sworn affidavit to the Senate Armed Services Committee in January 2025. In it, she made several serious allegations about Pete’s treatment of Samantha during their marriage.
The affidavit alleged that:
- Pete was repeatedly drunk during the marriage
- Samantha once hid in a closet because she feared for her safety
- Samantha developed an escape plan involving a code word that, when texted to trusted friends and family, would trigger someone to travel to Minnesota to help her
- Danielle said she was personally part of deploying that plan on one occasion in 2015 or 2016
Danielle was explicit that she did not personally witness physical or sexual abuse. She stated she came forward “at significant personal sacrifice” because she was concerned about what Hegseth’s confirmation would mean for the military.
Pete’s attorney Tim Parlatore dismissed the affidavit as a “coordinated smear campaign” by someone with “an axe to grind against the entire Hegseth family.”
Samantha’s Response: One Sentence, Maximum Restraint
When NBC News contacted Samantha for comment before the affidavit became public, she responded by email. Her first email disputed the accuracy of the information and noted she had copied her lawyer. Her second email, after being pressed further, was brief and final:
“There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you. I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”
That was it. She has not spoken publicly since.
She also spoke to the FBI as part of its vetting process for Pete’s confirmation and reportedly provided a prepared statement affirming that there was no abuse. Pete’s attorney confirmed Samantha “reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview.”
In 2021, both Pete and Samantha signed a Minnesota court document stating neither claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse during the marriage.
Pete’s Mother’s Email: A Complicated Footnote
One of the more explosive moments during Pete’s confirmation hearings came from an unexpected source — his own mother.
In 2018, during the divorce proceedings, Penelope Hegseth wrote her son a blistering email. The New York Times obtained and published it in November 2024. The email accused Pete of being “an abuser of women” and described a pattern of behavior that was “ugly” and “sad.”
Penelope wrote on behalf of what she described as “all the women you have abused in some way” — and specifically called out his treatment of Samantha, writing that labeling her as “unstable” for Pete’s own advantage was “despicable and abusive.”
When the email became public, Penelope went on Fox News and walked it back. She said she wrote it “in anger, with emotion” and had “immediately apologized in a separate email.” She insisted Pete had changed and described him as a “good husband to Jen” — his current wife Jennifer Rauchet.
She did not, notably, deny that the events she described in the original email had occurred.
Life After the Divorce
Samantha has rebuilt her life quietly and entirely on her own terms.
She works at Liberty Classical Academy in Minnesota — a private K-12 school that her three sons also attend. It’s the kind of role that keeps her present in her children’s daily lives, grounded in community, and far from the political and media machinery that consumed Pete’s world.
She receives $17,000 per month in spousal support — approximately $204,000 annually. Reports noted during Pete’s confirmation process that the divorce agreement included provisions meaning she could lose up to $80,000 per year in that support if certain conditions were triggered. She has not remarried, which aligns with the continued spousal support.
She has no known public social media presence. She gives no interviews. She attends no public events connected to Pete’s career or public life.
| Life After Divorce | Status |
|---|---|
| Remarried | No |
| Current Employment | Liberty Classical Academy, Minnesota |
| Monthly Spousal Support | $17,000 |
| Public Statements (since 2018) | One sentence (January 2025) |
| Social Media | None publicly known |
| Where She Lives | Minnesota |
Who She Really Is
It would be easy — and lazy — to define Samantha Hegseth entirely through what happened to her marriage and what was said about it publicly. That’s not who she is.
She is a woman who spent years in professional political advocacy. She raised three sons largely on her own while Pete traveled for work. She navigated a very public divorce without making it more public. She absorbed an avalanche of scrutiny during Pete’s confirmation hearings and responded with a single sentence. She works at the school her kids attend, keeps her head down, and protects her family from the noise.
The non-disparagement clause means she cannot say what she might want to say even if she chose to. The fact that she wouldn’t say it anyway — given everything — is worth acknowledging.
FAQs
Who is Samantha Hegseth? She is the second ex-wife of Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Born Samantha Deering on January 1, 1970, in Minneapolis, she worked as a spokesperson for Vets for Freedom before their marriage and currently works at Liberty Classical Academy in Minnesota.
When did Samantha Hegseth marry Pete Hegseth? They married in June 2010 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. Their divorce was finalized in July 2018.
Why did Samantha and Pete Hegseth divorce? The marriage ended due to Pete’s affair with Jennifer Rauchet, who became his third wife in 2019.
Does Samantha Hegseth have children? Yes — three sons with Pete: Gunner (born 2010), Boone (born 2012), and Rex Brian (born 2016).
What did Samantha Hegseth say about the abuse allegations? She issued one public statement to NBC News: “There was no physical abuse in my marriage.” She also reaffirmed this to the FBI during Pete’s vetting process and signed a 2021 Minnesota court document stating she was not a victim of domestic abuse.
Is Samantha Hegseth remarried? No. As of 2025 she remains single, which also means her spousal support from Pete continues.
What does the divorce decree’s non-disparagement clause mean? Both Samantha and Pete are legally prohibited from making public statements that disparage the other. This is not a full NDA but meaningfully restricts what either can say about the other publicly.
Conclusion
Samantha Hegseth didn’t choose the spotlight. She didn’t write the affidavit, didn’t brief Senate staff, didn’t speak to reporters, and didn’t leverage her position as the ex-wife of a Cabinet nominee for any visible purpose whatsoever.
What she did was raise three boys in Minnesota, go to work at their school, and respond to an avalanche of media attention with one sentence and complete silence after that.
Whether the allegations made by Danielle Hegseth reflect what truly happened in that marriage is ultimately something only the people inside it know. Samantha has been clear about what she is and isn’t willing to say — and her reasons for that, some legal and some personal, deserve to be respected.
She is more than this story. She always was.
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