WASHINGTON — A bronze cowboy statue from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to his U.K. counterpart landed in hot water, snagged by Britain’s tight gift rules, Newsweek reported.
In March 2025, Hegseth sent U.K. Defense Minister John Healey a solid bronze cowboy statue and a framed photo, but the U.K. Ministry of Defence held onto it for exceeding ministerial gift limits.
The saga began March 5, 2025, when Hegseth, ever the bold patriot, shipped the gift ahead of a Pentagon meeting with Healey on March 6. The two had previously crossed paths in Brussels in February 2025 before a NATO Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. Hegseth thought a cowboy statue screamed “diplomacy.”
U.K. rules cap ministerial gifts at £140 ($184.72), and Hegseth’s cowboy crossed that line. Ministers must declare gifts over this limit, pay to keep them, or leave them with their department. The statue’s value remains a mystery, but it was enough to trigger a bureaucratic lasso.
“U.K. governmental ministers receive all kinds of weird and wonderful gifts,” said Mark Shanahan of the University of Surrey. Weird? Sure. But wonderful? That’s debatable when it’s stuck in a government vault.
Shanahan added, “Perhaps Hegseth should have checked them [ministerial rules] before making this minor diplomatic faux pas.” A faux pas, yes, but let’s be real: Hegseth’s no stranger to shaking up the establishment. Maybe he figured rules are for the woke.
The gift’s cowboy theme didn’t help its case. Thomas Whalen of Boston University called it “not the most diplomatic thing to do,” noting, “The cowboy is generally viewed as a symbol of gunslinging American lawlessness abroad.” Lawlessness? Sounds like the kind of freedom the left loves to demonize.
Whalen went further: “The cowboy operates on his code heedless of others.” Cry me a river—Hegseth’s gesture was bold, not reckless. Critics like Whalen seem eager to paint America as the bad guy, as usual.
“This is precisely how Europeans and much of the rest of the world feel the U.S. operates on the international stage,” Whalen claimed. Oh, please. If Europe’s so sensitive about a statue, maybe they’re the ones needing a reality check.
Despite the gift gaffe, the U.S.-U.K. relationship remains rock-solid, with frequent high-level meetings to align on policy and interests. Hegseth and Healey’s Pentagon powwow went ahead as planned on March 6, 2025. No reports of cowboy statues derailing global security.
The U.K. released transparency details about the gift in April 2025, proving they’re sticklers for paperwork. Newsweek reached out to both the U.S. and U.K. defense departments for comment, but don’t hold your breath for juicy details. Bureaucrats aren’t known for spilling the tea. Meanwhile, Hegseth kept busy, meeting Peru’s Foreign Affairs Minister Elmer Schialer and Defense Minister Walter Astudillo at the Pentagon on May 5, 2025. No word on whether he gifted them cowboy hats. Actions have consequences, but Hegseth’s still steering the ship.
Hegseth’s also been shaking things up at home, directing U.S. military academies to enforce merit-based admissions, banning considerations of race, ethnicity, or sex. That’s right—no woke quotas here. Just pure, unfiltered meritocracy. On May 8, 2025, President Donald Trump announced a new U.S.-U.K. trade agreement, further cementing ties despite the statue snafu. The cowboy kerfuffle? A blip on the radar of a robust alliance.
In the end, Hegseth’s gift may have been a diplomatic misstep, but it’s hard to fault a man for trying to share some American grit. The U.K.’s gift rules might be tighter than a lasso, but they won’t dim the U.S.’s bold spirit. Here’s to hoping Healey gets to see that cowboy statue someday—without a rulebook in hand.
