President Donald Trump is eyeing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the ax after the GOP’s midterm rout, according to a report.
The 80-year-old president has been privately polling his advisers about Hegseth’s future, asking whether the defense secretary should stay on after Republicans’ Election Night drubbing, CBS News reported, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.
White House aides expect the blame for the GOP’s election losses to land on those most closely involved in the president’s quagmire war on Iran, according to CBS News.
But the president has not yet settled on whether to give Hegseth, 46, the boot, other sources told the outlet.
Asked Wednesday afternoon whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump told reporters, “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.”
He was then asked about a possible Senate landing spot for Hegseth in Tennessee. Marsha Blackburn, the current senator, is set to vacate her seat after being elected governor of Tennessee.
“I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that,” Trump said, “but I haven’t heard that at all.”
One source told CBS News that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has emerged as a potential successor to Hegseth.
The 48-year-old governor, whose term ends in January, could be confirmed by the Senate before Republicans relinquish control of the chamber next year, the person argued.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told CBS News in a statement that Trump has “full confidence” in Hegseth. She also praised the military operations in Iran and Venezuela and Hegseth’s efforts to reverse the Biden Pentagon’s prioritizing of “DEI and woke ideology.”
She touted Hegseth’s effort to purge the Pentagon of what she called “DEI and woke ideology,” and applauded the war in Iran and the military operation in Venezuela.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Despite Kelly’s praise for the war in Iran, the conflict appears to have been identified within the White House as a major contributor to the GOP’s losses.
Vice President JD Vance declared in a lengthy X post on Tuesday, “The reason we lost is the war.”
Shortly afterward, Trump said Vance’s post-election analysis was “good,” adding, “We knew that when I went in.”
Trump had begun sounding out a circle of close allies about Hegseth’s performance even before Election Day, according to a report in The Atlantic citing two outside advisers close to the president.
The two advisers and other unnamed figures close to Trump believe the conversations could be a precursor to Hegseth’s firing, given the president’s past approach to Cabinet shake-ups.
The Fox host-turned-defense secretary is hardly beloved inside the White House, according to the Atlantic, a fact that may not bode well for his future.
Some people close to Trump told the Atlantic that Hegseth has been sugarcoating the state of the war, offering the president an upbeat picture to keep him pleased.
“Hegseth is good at telling the president what he wants to hear,” one of the outside advisers said.
