Trump's defence pick Pete Hegseth 'won't back down' amid claims he could be replaced by DeSantis

Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary has pledged to carry on and said he still has the president-elect’s backing amid reports he could be replaced.

Mr Trump was said to be considering ditching Pete Hegseth in favour of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

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The are doubts Mr Hegseth could clear the Senate vote required due to claims about his personal and professional life.

On Wednesday, he met Republican senators whose vote he will need to be confirmed, and in a clip posted on X told a CBS News reporter he still had Mr Trump’s backing.

He said: “I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said ‘keep going, keep fighting’… Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the warfighters. This is personal and passionate for me.”

Mr Trump’s picks for his cabinet have attracted controversy and there has been speculation some might struggle to be confirmed.

Matt Gaetz, his initial pick for attorney general, has already withdrawn from the process.

Two sources familiar with the decision-making told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that DeSantis, once a rival in the Republican presidential race, could be chosen to replace Mr Hegseth.

Mr DeSantis is “very much in contention”, according to one source.

NBC News reported Mr Hegseth’s nomination was in jeopardy after at least six Republican senators were wavering in their support.

Mr Hegseth, a Fox News host, has attracted controversy over claims of excessive drinking, financial mismanagement and treatment of women.

An article in the New Yorker magazine reported that the allegations led to him having to quit leadership roles in two separate non-profit organisations for military veterans.

Mr DeSantis pulled out of the contest to be the Republican nominee for president in January after falling well behind Mr Trump in the primary campaign.

DeSantis’s failed leadership bid gives a hint of how he frames US defence policy

Like a number of those who Donald Trump has chosen for his cabinet positions, Ron DeSantis has had a spectacularly varied relationship with the president-elect.

“Ron DeSanctimonious” was Mr Trump’s nickname for the Florida governor as they vied for the Republican Party leadership just under two years ago.

Back then, Mr DeSantis, with conservative politics and policies, was seen as Mr Trump without the chaos; a genuine contender at one point to be the Republican nominee for president.

He is no establishment politician. Deeply sceptical of the media and vehemently anti-woke. He’s a self-styled woke warrior who has banned school books which he deems inappropriate. He’d take that agenda to the Pentagon.

During his failed leadership run we got a hint of how he frames American defence and foreign policy.

He made clear that he saw China as the United States’ most prescient military threat and he proposed the expansion of US Naval forces in a “four oceans” approach which involved an increase in US vessels and said he would prioritise weapons sales to Taiwan.

On Ukraine, he caused a huge stir in March 2023 by describing Mr Putin’s invasion and the ongoing war as a “territorial dispute” that did not represent a “vital national interest” of the United States.

He later revised the comments saying they were “mischaracterised” and that Mr Putin was a “war criminal”.

Before politics he was a military lawyer. He trained at Harvard and joined the US Navy in 2004. He served at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba and in Iraq where his legal judgments framed US military rules of engagement.

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DeSantis’s failed leadership bid gives a hint of how he frames US defence policy

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