Germany honors Biden's defense chief as Hegseth changes Pentagon

Courtney McBride, Bloomberg News on Oct 2, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Germany awarded its highest honor to former U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, praising a former Biden administration official whose legacy has been upended by his successor, Pete Hegseth.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius presented Austin the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on Wednesday night. A ministry statement said that thanks to Austin’s personal commitment, “relations at the security policy level were more trusting than they had been in a long time.”

It cited Austin’s role boosting the U.S. troop presence in Germany and said he played a central role in supporting Ukraine.

“Beyond politics and institutions, he has proven himself to be a true friend of Germany and, let me add, a true friend of mine – a friend who believes in our country, our armed forces, and our role within Europe and the alliance,” Pistorius said.

The German and U.K. defense ministers have assumed leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which Austin established to coordinate military support to Kyiv. Austin hosted meetings of the group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but Hegseth has limited his participation in the group.

Since assuming the top job at the Pentagon, Hegseth has worked to dismantle programs and rescind policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as well as climate change and COVID-19 vaccination.

Hegseth also criticized Austin directly when he announced soldiers who took part in the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, where hundreds of Native Americans were killed, would keep their Medals of Honor.

Austin, who had ordered a review of the issue but held off making a final decision, was “more interested in being politically correct than historically correct,” Hegseth said.

“An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth told hundreds of admirals, generals and enlisted advisers summoned to Marine Corps Base Quantico for a Sept. 30 address on changes to military culture. “Of course, we know our unity is our strength.”

Shortly before leaving his post in January, Austin challenged Trump and Hegseth’s claims that the U.S. military has become too “woke,” telling Bloomberg News in an interview that the armed forces reflect the diversity of the nation.

“You probably couldn’t get two people to provide the same definition of ‘woke’ because nobody really knows what that is,” Austin said. “Many of the people who make those comments may not really have a full understanding of what our troops are doing and how well they’re doing it.”