Will Donald Trump drop Pete Hegseth as his pick for secretary of Defense? Between the former Fox News host’s general lack of qualifications; the news that he was accused of sexual assault in 2017; reports that his drinking alarmed Fox co-workers and he was forced to resign from previous leadership positions over sexual and financial impropriety; as well as a newly resurfaced video of him trashing Trump, his confirmation is looking a tad iffy. And it certainly isn’t a good sign for Hegseth that Trump is floating the idea that he may replace him and make Ron DeSantis his new Pentagon pick.
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump allies increasingly doubt that Hegseth’s nomination will survive the week, and the Florida governor has risen to the top of Trump’s short list:
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.
Nominating DeSantis to lead the Pentagon does make sense. DeSantis can’t run for governor again, and his current term ends in 2027. He has military experience and he’s been running one of the most populous states for the past six years. Trump and Hegseth both want to end what they view as “woke” policies in the military, and anti-wokeness is a key part of the DeSantis brand.
But Trump nominating DeSantis would still be a wild turn of events. A year ago, the governor was battling Trump for the GOP presidential nomination. While DeSantis had positioned himself as Trump’s heir apparent, he wound up suspending his campaign in January after being thoroughly trounced by the former president. Supposedly, Trump and DeSantis have been working to repair their relationship, and Trump has made amends with several Republicans who dared to challenge him in the primaries. But Trump’s attacks on DeSantis were particularly nasty. He branded him “Ron DeSanctimonious,” among many other derogatory nicknames. Trump’s super-PAC mocked the governor’s height, accusing him of wearing lifts in his boots. The PAC even made a whole ad making fun of DeSantis for allegedly eating pudding with his fingers.
Sometimes, with sufficient groveling, Trump can get past his famous fixation on loyalty (the vice-president-elect did previously call him “America’s Hitler“). But it’s possible there’s more going on here than Trump thinking DeSantis might be the best person to lead the Pentagon.
First, there’s the Lara Trump angle. DeSantis is currently considering whether he should appoint Trump’s daughter-in-law to fill the Senate seat opened up by Marco Rubio’s nomination as secretary of State. The Bulwark reported that DeSantis has been resistant:
… many top Trump advisers dislike DeSantis for running against the once-and-future president, and some have been frustrated behind the scenes by the governor’s unwillingness, so far, to pick Lara Trump as a replacement for Rubio.
DeSantis resented being told whom to appoint and was uncomfortable with making Lara Trump, a newly minted Floridian, a senator. “She hasn’t paid her dues in the state. If she wants to become a senator, she can run for it in two years,” a DeSantis adviser said.
Could there be some kind of deal that lands DeSantis at the Pentagon and Lara in the Senate?
Second, there’s the possibility that Trump isn’t seriously considering DeSantis at all. In 2016, Trump gave Mitt Romney a very public audition for secretary of State. But it now seems the real goal was to make Romney publicly kiss the ring after he blasted Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud” during the campaign.
The one thing that’s been missing from the Trump Cabinet search 2.0 is the abject humiliation of a political foe. And “Meatball Ron” seems like the perfect candidate for that role.
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