He's already installed a makeup studio complete with lights and a director's chair at the Pentagon, and now Daily Mail can reveal that Pete Hegseth has kicked his beauty routine up a notch – by getting Botox. 

The Defense Secretary, 45, underwent a round of cosmetic injections last month with photos taken on August 25 and September 30 showing the dad-of-four with noticeably smoother skin in the latter and visibly diminished wrinkles.

'It's all an ego play for Pete. He's always been full of himself but lately his ego is off the charts,' an insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of thrice-married Hegseth.

'He's obsessed with his body and now he wants to create the entire military in his image.'

Hegseth made headlines late last month after summoning top brass to a meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, in late September where he harangued them over military fitness standards.

The Pentagon chief, formerly known as the Secretary of Defense before Trump's rebrand, added: 'No more DEI, dudes in dresses, or gender delusion .... prepare for war.'

He also told the generals that American enemies would 'FAFO', which stands for 'f**k around and find out,' if they challenged the US, before concluding: 'From this moment forward the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: war fighting, preparing for war and preparing to win.’

Former Fox and Friends host Hegseth went on to say he was ‘tired of seeing fat troops’ and wanted to see tough physical standards imposed.

But according to the insider: 'Now that's he's Secretary of War his sense of self-importance has gone to his head – along with his vanity.'

'And even though he strutted about the stage like a peacock when he gave his insulting lecture to the military brass, he still doesn't garner respect.

'He made a minor speech to important people, and he was still upstaged by Trump.' 

When asked for comment, the Department of War did not directly address whether Hegseth had had Botox treatment and instead attacked Daily Mail for writing an article about it. 

The measures are the latest in a string of directives aimed at raising the nation's 'war fighting' readiness and follow a ban on transgender service members on mental health grounds, as well as a fitness challenge he launched in the summer along with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Dubbed the 'Pete and Bobby Challenge', it involves completing 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups within five minutes.

Neither Hegseth nor RFK Jr. were able to complete it within the allotted time frame, although the Secretary of War did come within seconds of pulling it off.

Hegseth went on to lay out other directives. Notably, that each service will require high-level physical requirements, adding a combat arms field test. 

He harped that the media has been obsessed over the number of firings the Secretary of War has made since taking over, adding that even more leadership changes will be made. 

He even asked his fellow officers to resign if they do not agree with his new military rules laid out during the speech.

Muscleman Hegseth has long taken pride in his buff shape and is frequently filmed doing fitness exercises with US military members.

But some of his aesthetic choices have caused consternation among Pentagon insiders – not least his decisions to install the make-up studio and plaster the building with photos of himself and his blonde third wife Jennifer Rauchet, 40.

Rauchet, dubbed 'Yoko Ono' by Pentagon staff, has become a familiar face in the building since Hegseth's installation and was caught up in the 'Signalgate' scandal. 

The former Fox News executive producer – who has no official position in the government – was found to be on a Signal group chat where he shared details of pending US attacks against Yemen's Houthi terrorists.

She also raised eyebrows by accompanying the Secretary of War to meetings with his opposite numbers, notably a March conflab with British Defense Secretary John Healey.

Referring to Hegseth's colorful love life which spans three wives and multiple affairs, the insider added: 'She's still stuck to him like glue. And you can imagine why.'

According to sources, Rauchet's constant presence is just one of the reasons that Hegseth's reign at the Pentagon has proven tumultuous to date – and has been marked with spates of firings, including that of Navy Chief of Staff Jon Harrison last Friday.

Sources also told Daily Mail last week that the murder of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has left Hegseth 'rattled' and fearing for his own safety.

'There's a manic quality about him. Or let me rephrase, an even more manic quality, which is really saying something,' one insider told Daily Mail who also described him as being visibly distracted and on edge in the wake of Kirk's murder.

A second source added: 'Dude is crawling out of his skin.'

Daily Mail previously exposed growing discontent within the Pentagon in July, after a draft letter deeming Hegseth 'unfit to serve' began circulating among senior military leaders and civilian staffers. 

Insiders shared details of its contents – with complaints ranging from politicized decision-making to department-wide dysfunction, low morale, and a climate of paranoia driven by what they describe as Hegseth's obsession with rooting out dissent. 

They also pointed to his preoccupation with optics, citing his installation of a makeup studio inside the Pentagon, his staged photo ops lifting weights with the troops, and his new grooming and shaving policy for servicemen.

'Sure, he wants everyone as fit as he is. But he also wants everyone noticing how he looks,' an insider said at the time. 

Aside from Hegseth's review of fitness standards, he also has focused on military grooming, including specific instructions on how members should shave. 

One insider pointed to current tensions in Europe and Asia, and full-out war spanning from the north to the south of the Middle East, and said: 'With everything that's happening in the world, he's choosing to focus on razor bumps. Seriously?'