Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to join President-elect Trump at the Army-Navy College football game next weekend, two sources told Fox News.
DeSantis’ teaming up with Trump, the second this month, comes as multiple sources confirmed the president-elect is considering nominating the governor as secretary of defense to replace Trump’s embattled Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. It will. .
But the move came even as President Trump wrote on social media on Friday: “Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep. Much bigger than fake news would have you believe.”
DeSantis, a popular conservative governor and former Navy veteran who served in the Iraq War, locked horns with Trump in a highly combative and divisive Republican presidential primary last year and early this year. But the two leading Republicans appeared to make peace after the primary, and DeSantis helped raise money for Trump during the general election.
Trump sees DeSantis as Hegseth’s replacement
As Hurricane Milton threatened Florida, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held several storm preparedness press conferences on October 7, 2024. (Florida Governor’s Office)
DeSantis, who was re-elected in a landslide in 2022 but is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in 2026, is vying to replace Hegseth, multiple sources told Fox News.
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Another source told Fox News political anchor and “Special Report” host Brett Baier that it was the president-elect himself who mentioned the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis met together in Florida on Tuesday to discuss the idea. This event honors law enforcement officers killed in Palm Beach County.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, walks with his wife, Jennifer Rocher, through the basement of the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Reports from Fox News and other organizations this week come as Hegseth continues to meet with Republican senators to make his case for confirmation. Minister of National Defense.
WATCH: HEGSETH REPUBLICS AGAINST REPORTERS
Hegseth, a National Guard officer deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a former Fox News host, faces a series of drunkenness and sexual assault charges. He has denied allegations that he abused women and has vowed not to drink a drop of alcohol if he becomes defense secretary.
A seemingly defiant Hegseth told reporters Thursday afternoon: “This will not be a tried-and-true process in the media. I don’t answer to anyone in this group. I don’t answer to any of you, I don’t answer to those cameras at all. I answer to nothing.” “I answer to President Trump. I answer to the 100 senators participating in this process, my savior, and my family.”
In his social media post, Trump claimed that Hegseth “will be a fantastic and energetic Secretary of Defense…one who will lead with charisma and skill.”
Then-President Donald Trump attended the Army-Navy annual football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 2018. (Jim Watson/AFP, Getty Images)
The Army-Navy game is scheduled for Dec. 14 in Landover, Maryland. This game will be the 125th game of the football series between the two military academies.
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Trump attended the game as president-elect in 2016 and attended three more times during his first administration.
