I’m going to go along with the first round of musical chairs, which has Ron DeSantis taking over the Department of Defense nomination from Pete Hegseth. The music has stopped and Hegseth is standing. He’s the only one who can’t seem to grasp this situation, which is very apparent to everybody else. However, a new variable has been thrown into the mix. Now Mike Waltz, who was slated to take over as national security advisor, is being considered to head the DOD. And bets are being taken that by Friday, at the latest, Hegseth will withdraw his nomination. Now that runs contrary to what he is saying publicly, which is that he “won’t back down” (God help us, Lara Trump might sing about it) but the choice isn’t in his hands.
So instead of using the standard for a US Secretary of Defense nominee, one of the most important jobs on planet earth, we have lowered the bar on Trump nominees to whether they could successfully complete a season of Celebrity Rehab. pic.twitter.com/bi3lhtsCY4
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 4, 2024
Josh Hawley says that Hegseth was supposed to meet with him Thursday but that meeting has now been canceled. That does not sound promising. Yes, Hawley might have voted to confirm Hegseth but there are half a dozen other senators who can and will tank the nomination.
Trump allies increasingly think Hegseth might not survive further scrutiny, according to people close to the president-elect’s team, which considers the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate.
DeSantis, who served as a Navy lawyer in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, was on an earlier list of potential defense-secretary candidates that transition officials presented to the president. Trump ultimately went with Hegseth. But as Hegseth’s nomination has faltered, that list has been revived and DeSantis is again among the choices Trump is considering, the people said.
The discussions are in their early stages, one of the people said, adding that Trump has floated DeSantis’s name in casual conversations with guests at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida club.
Trump could decide not to choose DeSantis and select another replacement, if Hegseth’s nomination falls apart, the people said. Another potential defense-secretary candidate who has been discussed by Trump allies, according to people familiar with the matter, is Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official and ally of Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump is also considering Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) for the job, some of the people said.
The Associated Press is reporting Mike Waltz is another contender. The handwriting is pretty much on the wall that somebody other than Pete Hegseth will end up with the nomination.The smart money is saying it’s DeSantis.
DeSantis would sail through the Senate confirmation process, no small thing for the incoming president given the wretched caliber of many of his other nominees. And insofar as hard feelings toward Trump remain from this year’s primary among the governor’s populist fans, handing him a “prestige” Cabinet job will soften them. Some on the New Right who preferred DeSantis as nominee are doubtless preparing to say “I told you so” if Trump’s presidency fails; giving them a stake in its success by installing their hero at the Pentagon will blunt that reaction.
Trump will also personally enjoy barking orders at a former critic who tried to usurp his throne, needless to say. He loves to reward former enemies for having seen the light and bent their knee. J.D. Vance will soon be a heartbeat away from the presidency because of it. The thought of having DeSantis bow and scrape before him doubtless tickles the president-elect in a way that having Hegseth do so wouldn’t.
More to the point, though, Trump should prefer DeSantis as defense secretary because he’s an effective leader. He’s self-disciplined, which Hegseth plainly is not. He’ll command respect at the Pentagon for his gubernatorial experience and electoral success whereas Hegseth, a chat-show host, would struggle to be taken seriously. And like Trump, DeSantis favors a politics of dominance that prides itself on imposing the executive’s will on recalcitrant opponents. If the White House is serious about purging “wokeness” from the Pentagon, which was also a staple of the governor’s presidential campaign, having a defense chief that is well-practiced at political combat with leftist resisters will be useful.
There’s something else Trump would get from appointing DeSantis. Namely, a Senate seat.
His camp is keen to have daughter-in-law Lara Trump appointed to replace Marco Rubio in Congress once Rubio is confirmed as secretary of state. Don’t ask me why Eric Trump’s wife rather than Eric himself—or Don Jr., or Ivanka, or Jared Kushner, or any other number of nepotist barnacles—should be the next-gen Trump elevated to major political office. It is what it is. And according to Caputo, DeSantis understandably has “resented” the pressure from Trumpworld to appoint an unqualified crony like Lara who hasn’t paid her dues in Florida politics to fill Rubio’s seat.
But I bet he resents it a lot less now that he knows a Cabinet position might be his if he plays ball. If there’s one thing Donald Trump loves, it’s a quid pro quo.
Grift, nepotism and cronyism like never before seen. Get used to it. We’ve got four years to watch it.
Didn’t it used to be against the law to desecrate the American Flag like what Hegseth is wearing. I have always found it distasteful seeing folk “dressed” in our Flag. It really seems disrespectful.
IOKIYAR.
“It’s OK If You’re A Republican.”
Yes, if a Democrat were wearing something like that, the fake outrage emerging from the right-wing noise machine would be absolutely deafening. But, if “lefties” should raise the same outrage over cons violating US Flag laws, then it’s simply ignored. (Trying to take something like this to court wouldn’t even make it to an initial hearing.)
The U.S. Code has specific rules for flag display,,and specifically says it should not be user as clothing. However,,burning the flag is legal as a form of free speech, and thus protected.