Trump floats DeSan­tis as poten­tial defense sec­re­tary replace­ment if Hegseth fal­ters

Posted in Election 2024  •  Published by

Pres­i­dent-elect Don­ald Trump is con­sid­er­ing nom­i­nat­ing Repub­li­can Gov. Ron DeSan­tis of Flori­da as defense sec­re­tary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embat­tled cur­rent pick to steer the Pen­ta­gon, mul­ti­ple sources con­firm to Fox News.

DeSan­tis, a bit­ter Trump rival last year and ear­ly this year dur­ing the GOP pres­i­den­tial nom­i­na­tion bat­tle, made peace with Trump after the pri­maries and helped raise funds for Trump dur­ing the gen­er­al elec­tion. 

The pop­u­lar con­ser­v­a­tive gov­er­nor, a Navy vet­er­an who served in the Iraq war, was re-elect­ed in a land­slide in 2022 but is term-lim­it­ed and can­not run for re-elec­tion in 2026.

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DeSan­tis is “very much” in con­tention to replace Hegseth, mul­ti­ple sources told Fox News, with one source adding that it was the pres­i­dent-elect him­self who float­ed the gov­er­nor’s name.

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The report­ing from Fox News and oth­er orga­ni­za­tions comes as Hegseth on Wednes­day returns to Capi­tol Hill to con­tin­ue meet­ing with Repub­li­can sen­a­tors as he makes his case for con­fir­ma­tion as defense sec­re­tary.

Hegseth, an Army Nation­al Guard offi­cer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who pre­vi­ous­ly was a Fox News host, is fac­ing a series of drink­ing and sex­u­al mis­con­duct alle­ga­tions. 

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Hegseth has denied alle­ga­tions that he mis­treat­ed women.

“I spoke with the Pres­i­dent-elect this morn­ing. He said keep going, keep fight­ing,” Hegseth told reporters as he arrived on Capi­tol Hill. 

“Why would I back down? I have always been a fight­er,” he added.

Hegseth’s moth­er, Pene­lope Hegseth, appeared Wednes­day on Fox and Friends to defend her son and “set the record straight.”

“I am here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the Amer­i­can peo­ple and tell the truth to sen­a­tors on the hill, espe­cial­ly female sen­a­tors. I real­ly hope that you will not lis­ten to the media and you will lis­ten to Pete,” she added.

If Trump moves ahead and nom­i­nates DeSan­tis and the gov­er­nor is con­firmed by the GOP-con­trolled Sen­ate next year, it would lead to the ascen­sion of Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez. She would make his­to­ry as Flori­da’s first female gov­er­nor — and the first of Cuban descent.

The Wall Street Jour­nal was first to report the news that Trump is con­sid­er­ing DeSan­tis for defense sec­re­tary.