President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s current pick to steer the Pentagon, multiple sources confirm to Fox News.
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.
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.
The suggestion which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal comes as Hegseth returns to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to continue meeting with Republican senators as he makes his case for confirmation as defense secretary.
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.
Hegseth has denied the allegations and has vowed to keep fighting for his confirmation.
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.
