During his visit to Guantánamo Bay, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assessed Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, stating he deserved the death penalty and hoped for swift justice. Hegseth’s comments came amid ongoing legal complexities regarding a plea deal that could allow Mohammed to avoid a death-penalty trial in exchange for a life sentence. This case is currently under review by a federal appeals court. Hegseth emphasized his agreement with his predecessor regarding the death penalty, while also noting he holds the authority to negotiate plea agreements for other cases related to terrorism at Guantánamo.
This week, during a visit to the U.S. facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth checked in on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the individual alleged to have orchestrated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Mr. Hegseth remarked that the detainee appeared “fine,” asserted he merited the death penalty, “and I hope justice is served soon.”
With these remarks, Mr. Hegseth stepped into the complex legal landscape surrounding this prolonged case at a critical juncture. A federal appeals court is currently deliberating whether Mr. Mohammed possesses a legitimate plea agreement that would resolve his case with a life sentence, as opposed to facing a potential death-penalty trial in the future.
As the defense secretary, Mr. Hegseth is the highest-ranking official overseeing the military commission system—the war court at Guantánamo where Mr. Mohammed and four others are facing charges in a death-penalty case.
The statements were broadcast on Wednesday evening via the Fox News network. Mr. Hegseth made these comments a day earlier during an interview with Laura Ingraham, a former Fox colleague who accompanied him on the visit, but who did not enter the secure area where Mr. Mohammed is detained at Camp 5.
Mr. Mohammed is accused of masterminding the hijackings that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 individuals in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. He has been detained at Guantánamo since 2006, after enduring waterboarding and other forms of torture during his three years in C.I.A. custody.
Ms. Ingraham inquired about his appearance.
“I don’t really care,” Mr. Hegseth responded. “But he’s fine, and I hope he finds justice soon. This is one point on which I align with my predecessor, Lloyd Austin, in believing he deserves the death penalty, and I hope he encounters that outcome soon, within the legal framework.”
Currently, Mr. Mohammed’s case within this framework is stagnant. A federal court is reviewing whether the judge presiding over the military commissions can consider Mr. Mohammed’s guilty plea when sessions reconvene at Guantánamo Bay on April 23, following Ramadan.
A Biden administration official, Susan K. Escallier, signed a plea agreement with Mr. Mohammed and two other defendants on July 31, finalizing over two years of negotiations. In this agreement, he waived his right to future appeals and consented to keep the details of his torture confidential in exchange for a life sentence.
Two days later, Mr. Austin attempted to nullify the deal, but two military courts concluded that he had acted too late, and that the settlement was valid.
This matter is now being addressed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Mr. Austin regained the authority to negotiate any new agreements in other Guantánamo cases, a power that Mr. Hegseth now possesses as secretary of defense.
Defense attorneys for another Sept. 11 defendant, Ammar al-Baluchi, who is not pursuing a guilty plea, are already seeking to have the case dismissed. They argue that other officials have politically interfered by opposing a plea agreement.
Mr. Hegseth’s remarks may serve as further substantiation.
Additionally, Mr. Hegseth acquired the exclusive authority to negotiate a plea deal in the death-penalty case involving a Saudi detainee accused of orchestrating Al Qaeda’s bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, an attack that killed 17 U.S. service members.
The accused in that case, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is scheduled to return to court on March 10 for pretrial hearings. However, his attorneys have requested the judge to halt all proceedings for over a year, citing claims of political interference.
In a 25-page legal brief, they asserted that their ability to prepare for a trial set to commence on October 6 had been hindered by orders from the Trump administration, including possible staff reductions and policy shifts that had resulted in “chaos” throughout the federal system.
The lawyers requested that the judge pause the case until July 4, 2026, or until the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group established by Elon Musk, “completes dismantling the federal government, the Defense Department, and the Military Commissions Defense Organization, whichever happens first.”
Throughout his tenure as a Fox commentator, Mr. Hegseth expressed dissatisfaction with the legal protections afforded to Guantánamo detainees, advocating in 2017 for the “expedition of military commissions” for those held there.
“If we’re at war, and we have a designated enemy, we need to extract intelligence from them, and then, if they are found guilty, either execute them or detain them indefinitely,” he articulated at that time.