‘He’s doing great’: Trump rallies behind Defense Secretary Hegseth but invites DeSantis to Army-Navy game
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida will join President-elect Trump next weekend at the annual Army-Navy college football game, two familiar sources tell Fox News.
DeSantis’ meeting with Trump — the second this month — comes as multiple sources have confirmed that the president-elect is considering nominating the governor as defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s current pick to lead the Pentagon. .
But the move also comes as Trump on Friday took to social media to write that “Hegseth is doing great. His support is stronger and deeper, much more than the Fake News would like you to believe.”
DeSantis, a popular civil rights governor and Navy veteran who served in the Iraq War, fought a bitter battle last year and earlier this year with Trump in a highly contested and divisive GOP presidential race. But the two Republicans appeared to be making peace after the primaries, and DeSantis helped raise money for Trump during the general election.
TRUMP CONSIDERS DESANTIS AS POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT FOR HEGSETH
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held several hurricane preparedness briefings on Oct. 7, 2024, as Hurricane Milton threatened Florida. (Florida State Office)
DeSantis, who was re-elected in a landslide in 2022 but is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in 2026, is in “deep competition” to replace Hegseth, multiple sources told Fox News.
KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO IS THE PRESIDENT CHOICE SO FAR?
Another source told Fox News political anchor and “Special Report” host Bret Baier that it was the president-elect who floated the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis discussed the idea when they met Tuesday while appearing together in Florida at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, as they walk in the basement of the Capitol, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schifelbein)
The report from Fox News and other organizations this week comes as Hegseth continues to meet with Republican senators as he makes his case to ensure that the secretary of defense.
WATCH: HEGSETH PUSHES BACK ON REPORTS
Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a former Fox News anchor, faces a series of allegations of drinking and sexual misconduct. He denied allegations that he mistreated women and vowed that he would not drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed as defense secretary.
A visibly defiant Hegseth told reporters Thursday afternoon that “this is not going to be a media-tried process. I don’t answer to anybody in this group. Not to you, not to that camera at all. I answer to President Trump, who got 76 million votes on behalf of the senator and my family. “
Trump, in a social media post, said Hegseth “will be a Secretary of Defense . . . who leads with passion and skill.”
Then-President Donald Trump attends the annual Army-Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 2018. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
The Army-Navy game is scheduled for Dec. 14 in Landover, Maryland. It will be the 125th game in the storied football series between the two military bases.
CLICK FOR THE NEWS PROGRAM
Trump attended the game as president-elect in 2016 and three more times during his first administration.
Source link
