Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired back at a reporter during a brief exchange on Monday, telling him in no uncertain terms that he would not answer a question if he believed the framing to be unfair.

The reporter questioned the recent nomination of Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a move that was announced by President Trump on Friday. Trump said that Caine had been “passed over” for promotion during the Biden administration, but that he planned to rectify that situation.

In the days since his nomination, however, critics have questioned Caine’s qualifications.

WATCH:

Reporter: “Mr. Secretary, why did you select an under qualified retired lieutenant general to be the next chairman of joint chiefs of staff?”

SECDEF: “I’m gonna choose to REJECT your unqualified question” ???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/TV3orOf8ry

— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) February 24, 2025

“Mr. Secretary, why did you select an under-qualified retired lieutenant general to be the next chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff?” the reporter asked.

Hegseth didn’t even let him finish asking the question before he shot back, “I’m gonna choose to REJECT your unqualified question.”

Hegseth has defended President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, now the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arguing that Trump was just doing as other presidents have before him in choosing the military’s civilian leadership.

“There is civilian control of the military. Nothing about this is unprecedented. The president deserves to pick his key national security and military advisory team,” Hegseth said, adding that neither he nor Trump believed Brown to be “the right man for the moment.”

Trump nominated Caine to take Brown’s place, saying in part, “General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience. During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military ‘geniuses’ said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.”