Some Trump Allies Chafe At Potential Desantis Appointment

The idea of making Ron DeSantis secretary of Defense isn’t going over well with everyone at Mar-a-Lago.

While those close to Trump have stressed that the decision is ultimately the president-elect’s, some people in Trump’s orbit are chafing at news that Trump is considering DeSantis for the job. They cite the barbs DeSantis directed at Trump during the primary and his treatment of onetime confidante Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff.

“It’s a little awkward because of all the things DeSantis has said about Trump, especially on foreign policy, during the primary,” said a person close to Trump. And, they added, “there’s a lot of people … who feel a loyalty to Susie. But at the end of the day it’s Trump’s decision to make, but he should know the full breadth of what DeSantis has said in the past about him.”

During the primary, DeSantis suggested that Trump no longer had the energy to lead the country. He suggested the former president had “lost the zip” on his fastball. He said he “didn’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star,” undercut Trump’s false claims he won the 2020 election, and said the “presidency is not a job for someone pushing 80.” (Trump is 78.)

And people close to Trump do not forget how DeSantis treated Wiles. The incoming chief of staff was once a close ally of the Florida governor and helped chart DeSantis’s rise to national prominence before the relationship soured. DeSantis accused Wiles of leaking to the press and behind the scenes worked to banish her from politics, before Trump brought her back into the fold on his 2020 campaign and empowered her to run his political operation after he left the White House.

“She hates him,” said one person close to the transition effort, referring to Wiles. And “Vance probably sees him as a rival.”

The vitriol between Trump and DeSantis defined the Republican primary. Trump and his team belittled and humiliated the Florida governor, and DeSantis took repeated personal swipes at Trump.

But now, as Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faces an uphill battle to get confirmed by the Senate, he is considering bringing his one time nemesis back into the fold.

The pushback to DeSantis has prompted some people close to Trump to float Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, who has been named national security adviser in the new administration, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), as other potential Defense Secretary contenders if Hegseth drops out.

Trump and DeSantis personally discussed the prospect of the governor becoming Secretary of Defense while they were at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the conversations. DeSantis, whose term is up in 2027 and continues to be cited as a potential 2028 contender, had expressed interest in a cabinet role and his name was on the official transition list for Defense Secretary.

Notably, Trump and DeSantis were joined at Tuesday’s event by Eric Trump, whose wife, Lara Trump, has been floated as a potential replacement for Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat in Florida.

Tapping DeSantis for Defense Secretary would allow the governor to set in motion a remarkable series of personnel moves that would give him king maker status in the state of Florida. DeSantis would get to pick not only who replaces Rubio, but could put his allies in key positions including Governor and Lt. Governor.

Hegseth’s fate, meanwhile, could be decided any day.

Trump, notably, likes fighters and Hegseth has continued to push for his chance to sit for confirmation hearings. He published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday saying he “won’t back down” from his fight to win the job. Hegseth told journalist Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” Wednesday that the president-elect was standing by him.

The message from Trump to his Pentagon pick was “I got your back” during a conversation on Wednesday, Hegseth told Kelly. “It’s a fight. They’re coming after you. Get after it.”

Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, appeared on Fox & Friends earlier in the day to defend her son after the New York Times published an email from her in which she accused him of being a man who “belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around.”

On Fox, Hegseth’s mother said her son, seven years after the bitter divorce that prompted her to write the scathing email to her son, is now “a new person,” and “he’s redeemed, forgiven, changed.” Hegseth’s mother did not commit to testifying about her son during a potential confirmation hearing.