Trump Mulls Replacing Pete Hegseth

Trump and DeSantis

President-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement for Pete Hegseth, his pick to run the Pentagon, according to The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the discussions, amid Republican senators’ concerns over mounting allegations about the former Fox News host’s personal life.

Picking DeSantis, a 2024 GOP primary rival for the presidency, would amount to a stunning turn for Trump. But he would also find in the governor a well-known conservative with a service record who shares Trump’s—and Hegseth’s—view on culling what they see as “woke” policies in the military.

Hegseth, DeSantis

Trump allies increasingly think former FOX News host Hegseth may not survive further scrutiny, according to people close to the president-elect’s team, which considers the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate.

DeSantis, who served as a Navy lawyer in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, was on an earlier list of potential defense secretary candidates that transition officials presented to the president. Trump ultimately went with Hegseth. But as Hegseth’s nomination has faltered, that list has been revived and DeSantis is again among the choices Trump is considering, the people said.

The discussions are in their early stages, one of the people said, adding that Trump has floated DeSantis’s name in casual conversations with guests at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida club.

Trump could decide not to choose DeSantis and select another replacement, if Hegseth’s nomination falls apart, the people said. Another potential defense secretary candidate who has been discussed by Trump allies, according to people familiar with the matter, is Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official and ally of Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump is also considering Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) for the job, some of the people said.

CBS's Norah O'Donnell with an INSANE open to the 'CBS Evening News' smearing @PeteHegseth like it's the campaign all over again: "We begin with new reporting by CBS News. The highest priority of the president of the United States is the safety and security of the American people.… pic.twitter.com/rmaTvMcmUQ

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 4, 2024

DeSantis was once seen as an acolyte of Trump but his decision to challenge the former president in the 2024 GOP primary began a bitter conflict between them, with Trump casting DeSantis as disloyal. Trump easily prevailed in the primary and friends of the two have worked to repair the relationship.

Abby Livingsgon at Puck writes four of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees—Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, Kash Patel at the F.B.I., Tulsi Gabbard as D.N.I., and R.F.K. Jr. at H.H.S.—face uncertain futures on the Hill. 

She writes almost everyone is wondering whether Senate Republicans will reject their troubled nominations or whether they’ll sail through, but some early signs are emerging. In recent days, for example, a cascade of Senate Republicans have come out in support of Hegseth, despite a blistering account in The New Yorker of his drunken antics and financial mismanagement while running a pair of veterans nonprofits, NBC’s reporting on how Hegseth “drank in ways that concerned his coworkers” at Fox News, and an email from Hegseth’s own mother accusing him of “abuse” and “debasing” women.