Trump floats DeSantis as potential defense secretary replacement if Hegseth falters

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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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves from the stage on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

DeSantis is “very much” in contention to replace Hegseth, multiple sources told Fox News.

One source added that it was the president-elect himself who floated the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis discussed the idea as they met Tuesday while appearing together in Florida at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County.

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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.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, speaks with reporters following a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

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.

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“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 also made his case in a social media post Wednesday morning, writing “I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers.”

But a top Trump ally in the Senate is concerned.

“He obviously has a chance to defend himself here. But some of this stuff is – it’s going to be difficult,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime military veteran and South Carolina Republican, told reporters on Tuesday.

Among the senators Hegseth was meeting with on Wednesday is GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a military veteran and sexual-assault victim whose support would be crucial to his Senate confirmation.

Ernst told reporters on the eve of the meeting that she would likely have a “frank and thorough conversation” with Hegseth.

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.

President Donald J. Trump, a Secret Service member, his son Eric Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis attend a memorial service for three fallen Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies at the South Florida Fairgrounds, Tuesday December 03, 2024, in Palm Beach County.  (Bill Ingram/Imagn)

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.

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