President Trump is standing firmly behind Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, declaring he has every intention of keeping his embattled Pentagon chief despite mounting pressure to hold him responsible for Democrats sweeping gains in Tuesdays midterm elections.
According to The New York Post, Trump made his position clear in an interview with ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl, brushing aside calls from within his own party to remove Hegseth. I have every intention to keep him, Trump said, adding, I get these calls, you know, about him. I dont understand why.
Hegseth has become a lightning rod over his stewardship of the war in Iran, a conflict he has championed and defended from the outset. Senior administration figures, including Vice President JD Vance, have pointed to the prolonged fighting and public fatigue as a key factor in Democrats racking up victories in House and Senate races nationwide.
Some Republicans, wary of losing their last levers of influence, are urging Trump to act while the GOP still controls the upper chamber. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina is among those nudging the president to dismiss Hegseth and install a new Pentagon chief before the Senate majority slips away.
On Capitol Hill, House Democrats are preparing to escalate the fight by targeting Hegseth directly. The House could vote as early as next week, when it returns for its lame-duck session, on a resolution to impeach the secretary, a move that would further inflame partisan tensions.
Even if that initial impeachment effort falls short, Democrats have signaled they are not backing down. They intend to pursue the former Fox News host aggressively if he remains in charge of the military when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, underscoring their determination to punish the administrations hawkish posture.
In the early days of Operation Epic Fury, Hegseth was the public face of the administrations pro-war faction, pushing back hard against any skepticism from the press. He bristled at questions about the operations prospects, projecting confidence that the campaign would secure American interests and deter Iranian aggression.
Yet Hegseth has not briefed reporters on the conflict since May, leaving a vacuum as new details have trickled out about the toll of Irans retaliation. Among the revelations are reports of extensive damage to US installations in the region, including a key port in Bahrain critical to supplying aircraft carriers and projecting American power.
On Wednesday, Hegseth rebuffed efforts to coax him into stepping aside voluntarily and seeking the newly vacant Senate seat in his home state of Tennessee. Outgoing Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who just won the governors race, will have the authority to appoint her successor, prompting speculation that Hegseth could be offered a soft landing.
Instead, the Pentagon signaled defiance and a determination to stay the course on Trumps national security agenda. We will continue to drive [Trumps] agenda at the Department of War despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats and Secretary Hegseth is 100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trumps term in office, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell insisted.
Still, behind the scenes, the president is weighing his options as the political fallout from the midterms continues to unfold. White House insiders told The Post that Trump is quietly canvassing advisers about whether Hegseth should remain in the cabinet, though they stressed that the 46-year-olds removal is far from a foregone conclusion.
Somebody has to own this, a person close to the administration said Wednesday, reflecting the search for accountability after the GOPs poor showing. When the word war is in your title, then you might be the person in the crosshairs.
There is historical precedent for such a move when wartime policy collides with electoral backlash. Former President George W. Bush announced the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld just one day after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the 2006 midterm elections amid public anger over the Iraq War.
Despite the partisan rancor and the looming fight over Hegseths future, Trump struck a conciliatory note about working with the new Democratic majorities in the 120th Congress. I think we can get along, he said, adding, Its good for the country if we do. The country has had enough.
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