Pete Hegseth's Very Tight Outfit for The 'Melania' Movie Premiere Brutally Mocked — 'He Seriously Needs to Buy Some Larger Suits'
Fans claimed Pete Hegseth needed to buy 'larger suits.'
Jan. 30 2026, Published 7:45 p.m. ET
Pete Hegseth has been accused of trying to stuff his workout-honed body into a too-tight suit at the Washington, D.C. world premiere of Melania Trump's new film, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
President Donald Trump's Secretary of War, 45, donned a blue suit with a smart tie for the red carpet while posing with his wife, Jennifer Rauchet. However, the jacket had an awkward fit, as the top button barely held and showed its strain through significant puckering in the fabric.
'Can't He Afford a Jacket That Fits?'
The button on Hegseth's suit strained to keep closed.
"He seriously needs to buy some larger suits," one person griped on X about the fit of Hegseth's attire.
"Can't he afford a jacket that fits him?" a second user .
"Is he putting on weight?" a third observer asked.
"I love Hegseth, but he should probably be busy doing other things at this exact moment. Just saying," a fourth person complained about the Secretary taking time off work to support his boss' wife.
"These people never get to rest!!! Dang!" a fifth user pointed out about how Hegseth already had a busy day with a marathon cabinet meeting followed by him and the rest of the president's team attending Melania's premiere that night.
The 'Pete & Boby Challenge'
The 'Pete & Bobby Challenge' became a national fitness craze.
While some people thought Hegseth was bursting out of his suit jacket at the premiere, he might be getting too strong and bulky for his old suits.
The War Sec got together with equally fit Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the "Pete & Bobby Challenge" in August 2025, where the two gym beasts blasted out 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups each in just over five minutes.
Hegseth explained that it was part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative, drilling in, "We're going to be fit, not fat."
He added, "We want recruits that are ready to go and challenged."
The two men worked out alongside other members of the armed services, some of whom completed the rigorous challenge in under three minutes.
No Rest Days
Hegseth loves to document his workouts on social media.
Hegseth even includes foreign dignitaries in his daily physical training.
The former Army National Guard major invited Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi to join him in the gym at the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment at Virginia's Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on January 15, as the pair got in a morning workout before an afternoon of meetings in suits.
The two men challenged each other with weighted sled drills, medicine ball tosses, and more.
No 'Fat Troops'
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Hegseth installed tighter fitness requirements to make sure there are no 'fat' soldiers.
The Minnesota native has made it clear he expects everyone in the Department of War to meet his physical fitness standards by imposing tough new requirements.
"It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force," Hegseth declared in September 2025.
He made it clear that the physical standards apply to higher-ups just as they would to incoming recruits,
Hegseth proclaimed, "Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are."
