Trump considers ally-turned-rival DeSantis to replace Hegseth as Pentagon chief

Donald Trump is said to be eying his former friend-turned-staunch rival Ron DeSantis to replace Pete Hegseth as his defense secretary pick, as the former Fox News host’s nomination hangs by a thread.

Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the president-elect is now reconsidering his first choice with Hegseth facing mounting scrutiny over allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse.

Trump allies are of the growing belief that the military veteran may not survive the Senate confirmation process, the sources said.

With the president-elect now mulling other options, the sources said Florida Gov. DeSantis has emerged as one of the top contenders.

DeSantis was reportedly placed on a shortlist presented to Trump by his transition team and he has since been floating his former GOP primary rival as Hegseth’s replacement in conversations with guests at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump and DeSantis, a former Navy lawyer, attended a memorial in West Palm Beach together on Tuesday for three Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office deputies killed in a crash two weeks ago.

The selection of Trump’s one-time primary rival would mark a drastic change in relations for the duo, after Trump hammered him with attacks and gave him the moniker “Ron DeSanctimonious” when they were both vying for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis was previously nicknamed “Trump 2.0” for his embrace of conservative policies and an “anti-woke” agenda but his presidential campaign failed to make a dent in Trump’s popularity.

The move to line up a replacement for Hegseth comes as six Senate Republicans have now shared concerns about approving his nomination, a source told the outlet. The post requires a majority of the upper chamber’s approval which Republicans control by a slim margin of 53 seats to 47 Democrats.

Wednesday is being pitted as an “absolutely critical” day for Hegseth, a senior Trump aide told CNN, with growing uncertainty in Trumpworld, fresh claims about Hegseth’s drinking and him set to make a last-ditch appeal on Fox News.

The 44-year-old is set to appear for an interview on the network while his mother Penelope Hegseth will appear on Fox & Friends with host Steve Doocy – a move that aims to minimise the damage from a leaked email she sent to her son in 2018.

In the email, which came amid his rocky divorce and was leaked to The New York Times, she told her son there were “many” women he “abused in some way,” claiming that he “belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego.”

Also on Wednesday, Hegseth will meet with the House Republican Study Committee, signifying another sign that his nomination may be in trouble, The Hill reported.

Despite House lawmakers having no say in the confirmation process of cabinet members, the meeting may be used to raise pressure on those in the upper chamber to vote one way or another.

Sources told the Journal the next 48 hours are crucial to determining Hegseth’s future in the Trump administration.

While neither Trump nor any Republican senators have publicly spoken of ill of Hegseth, his nomination is being eclipsed by a series of scandals.

Allegations about his treatment of women surfaced last month when it came to light a woman had accused Hegseth of sexual assault after a Republican women’s event in Monterey, California, in October 2017.

The 22-page police report was later released in response to a public records request, offering a detailed account of what the woman alleges took place. No charges were brought against Hegseth and he claims the sexual encounter was consensual.

Hegseth has also admitted to having had five affairs during his first marriage, Vanity Fair reported Tuesday.

In November 2008, Hegseth told his then-wife Meredith Schwarz that he had been having affairs, later admitting to five of them, as per the report. The couple divorced the same year.

Hegseth’s former Fox News employees have also spoken out about his alleged alcohol problems.

Two Fox employees told NBC News that on more than a dozen occasions they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air as a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend.

They claimed he would complain about being hungover and acted like “the rules didn’t apply to him,” according to the accounts of 10 current and former Fox News employees.

Hegseth also faced allegations of repeated drunken behavior at official events during his tenure as president of Concerned Veterans for America from 2013 to 2016, according to a report by The New Yorker.

In one particular incident while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in May 2015, Hegseth was accused of drunkenly shouting “Kill all Muslims!” in the middle of a bar.

The Independent has contact both the Trump transition team and DeSantis for comment.