President-elect Donald Trump is considering replacing embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to two sources familiar with the decision-making.
DeSantis is “very conflicted,” the source said.
Another told NBC News that Trump and DeSantis spoke directly about the issue.
“Trump has spoken to the governor and wants him to do it,” a source familiar with the conversation told NBC News on Tuesday evening.
NBC News reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s nomination is in jeopardy as as many as six Republican senators are wavering in their support for him.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday evening that DeSantis was being considered for the Cabinet post.
DeSantis’ office and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
Other possible contenders for the top Pentagon position include Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., according to two sources familiar with the decision-making.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., whom Trump selected as White House national security adviser, is also a possible choice to lead the Pentagon, two other sources said.
Ron DeSantis in 2022.
Senators who have reservations about Hegseth have raised concerns about allegations involving him and binge drinking, and reports of his treatment of women, including a 2017 sexual assault allegation for which he was never charged.
Hegseth has denied assaulting women and has said the meeting with the woman who accused him of assault, with whom he later reached an undisclosed settlement, was consensual. When asked about the binge drinking allegations Tuesday evening, he did not respond.
In a message to .
“Our warriors will never back down, and neither will I,” he said.
DeSantis, for his part, challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in this 2024 cycle and dropped out in January, just days before the New Hampshire primary.
He immediately supported Trump, despite the two feuds during the campaign and the former president nicknamed DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious.” Unlike many of Trump’s other picks for his future Cabinet, DeSantis has declared that Trump lost the 2020 election, while others have echoed the newly elected president’s comments that it was stolen.
DeSantis was in the Navy and served in the Iraq War, eventually earning the rank of lieutenant commander.
Ernst, meanwhile, served in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard, eventually holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. She also served in the Iraq War.
Hagerty has no military experience. Before coming to Congress in 2021, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan during the first Trump administration.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
