President Donald Trump spent the day after the midterm elections telling the country that nothing about his team needs to change. In a late-night television interview on Tuesday, hours after Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress, he dismissed the idea that his Cabinet bore any blame for the Republican defeat. Asked the next afternoon whether he was considering replacing his defence chief, Pete Hegseth, he gave a flat answer: no, he thought Hegseth was doing a very good job. Yet behind those public assurances, a different conversation was taking place inside the White House. According to CBS News, Trump has been asking advisers, in person and by telephone, whether Hegseth should stay in his job after the Republican losses, and one source has floated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement.
The stakes go beyond a single personnel decision. The midterm results on Tuesday, November 3, handed Democrats control of the House and the Senate, leaving Trump to face the final two years of his presidency without a friendly majority in either chamber. The new Congress does not convene until January, so Republicans still hold both chambers for a short lame-duck period, but Democrats will soon be able to block the president’s legislation, investigate his administration and challenge his nominees.
Trump’s public position, repeated twice in less than a day, is that the election result had nothing to do with his team. In the Fox News interview on election night he said he did not expect personnel changes, adding that the outcome had nothing to do with his Cabinet. On Wednesday afternoon he defended Hegseth directly when asked whether he might replace him. The White House reinforced the message through spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who said Trump has full confidence in his defence secretary. People close to Hegseth have told The Washington Post that he intends to remain in the job for the rest of Trump’s term, and the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, has said Hegseth is fully committed to leading the department until the end of the president’s term.
Why Trump Says No Cabinet Changes Are Coming
Trump’s reluctance to blame his Cabinet fits a pattern he has followed throughout his second term. He has presented his team as loyal and effective, and he has treated criticism of individual officials as criticism of his own judgment in choosing them. In the Fox News interview, he went further, saying he did not view the election result as a personal setback at all, and arguing that if he had been on the ballot himself, the outcome would have been different. That framing leaves little room for a shake-up, because a shake-up would amount to an admission that something about his administration had failed.
There is also a practical reason to hold the line in public: any sign that he is considering dismissing Hegseth would invite fresh speculation about every other member of the Cabinet, and hand Democrats an opening to demand testimony from an administration already bracing for investigations. His explanation for the defeat also points away from personnel: he acknowledged that the war in Iran had played a part, saying that part of it was Iran, but he placed the emphasis on higher fuel prices rather than on the decisions of his military advisers.
The Hegseth Question Behind Closed Doors
The private picture reported by CBS News is more complicated. Citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, the network reported on Wednesday that Trump has been asking advisers, in person and by telephone, whether Hegseth should remain in his job after the Republican losses. Other sources in the same report stressed that Trump has not decided to replace Hegseth: asking a question is not the same as making a decision, and the report does not say a dismissal is imminent.
What the reporting does establish is that Hegseth has become the focal point of the blame for the election result inside the administration. Some White House aides have predicted that blame for the losses will fall not only on Hegseth but also on Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of United States Central Command, and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both of whom played major roles in advising the president on the Iran campaign. The argument is that Hegseth assured Trump the war would be a short engagement, and that the reality proved far longer and costlier.
Hegseth’s position was already under pressure before the election. Democrats were already trying to impeach him, with articles of impeachment filed by Representative Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat, and Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, and the likelihood of such an effort has grown now that Democrats hold strong majorities in both chambers. Republican Senator Ted Cruz has warned that Democrats may try to impeach Hegseth once the new Congress convenes. A senior White House official told the Washington Examiner that Hegseth was firmly in the crosshairs over his advice to the president on the Iran war.
DeSantis Floated as a Possible Replacement
The most striking detail in the CBS News report is the name put forward as a possible successor. According to one source familiar with the discussions, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been floated as a replacement for Hegseth. The same source suggested DeSantis could be confirmed by the Senate during the lame-duck period, while Republicans still control the chamber, and take over once his term as Florida governor ends on January 5. No source has said Trump has endorsed the idea, and no formal process has been announced.
DeSantis is a former rival of Trump’s for the Republican presidential nomination, but he is also a veteran and the governor of the country’s third-largest state. A lame-duck confirmation would also solve a timing problem: if Trump waited until Democrats controlled the Senate, confirming a new defence secretary could become a drawn-out fight, with hearings used to examine the Iran war in detail.
The suggestion should be treated with caution: it comes from a single source, and there is no indication DeSantis has been approached or would accept. It may reflect one faction’s preference rather than the president’s thinking. For now it is a sign of how actively the Pentagon’s future is being discussed, not evidence that a change has been agreed.
Republican Pressure to Clean House
Trump is also facing pressure to change his team from outside the White House. Republican allies and strategists called on Wednesday for the president to shake up his White House personnel, restore discipline and reconsider the policies they blame for the losses, including the Iran war and tariffs, according to Reuters. Veteran Republican strategist John Feehery called the results a huge disaster for Trump and urged a major personnel shake-up, saying the president needed to clean house.
That pressure reflects a wider anxiety about the next two years: with Democrats in control of Congress, Trump will need his party to hold together to block Democratic legislation and sustain his vetoes. A shake-up, in this view, would signal that the president has heard the voters’ message. Trump has so far given no sign that he accepts that argument. He told Fox News that he did not view the result as a hit on him, and on Wednesday he spent his first public appearance since the election talking at length about the ballroom project.
Aides Brace for Departures and Investigations
Inside the White House, the mood is very different from the defiance on display in public. Senior aides are bracing for staff departures, possible Cabinet changes and Democratic investigations, according to a senior official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official described morale as being as low as it could get. The same official said internal polling had warned six weeks before the election that Republicans were headed for losses in both chambers, but that Trump had refused to change course on Iran despite warnings about the political consequences.
That account points to a deeper problem than any single appointment. If senior aides believe the president ignored warnings about the election, they may also believe further warnings will be ignored, which creates an incentive for staff to leave before the investigations begin. There is also the question of who would want to join now: a new appointee would face confirmation hearings before a Democratic Senate and the prospect of serving in an administration with two years left and limited legislative prospects.
What Happens Next in the Lame-Duck Window
The next few weeks will show whether the private questions about Hegseth turn into a public decision. The lame-duck period, which runs until the new Congress convenes in January, is the window in which Trump could act most freely on personnel: Republicans still control the Senate, so a nominee put forward now could be confirmed without Democratic support. Once January arrives, every confirmation becomes a negotiation with Democrats. If Trump is going to change his defence secretary, the coming weeks are the time to do it.
There are also reasons for Trump to wait. The Iran war is still under way, and changing the defence secretary in the middle of a military campaign carries risks of its own. Some advisers believe Trump may keep Hegseth in place for now because he wants continuity, while others argue that his public defence of Hegseth is genuine and that the private questions reflect a president who likes to test his advisers’ opinions rather than one who has made up his mind.
For now, the facts are these: Trump says he does not plan Cabinet changes, and he has publicly defended Hegseth. At the same time, he has privately asked advisers whether Hegseth should stay, a source has floated DeSantis as a successor, senior aides are bracing for departures, and Republican strategists are urging him to clean house. None of that amounts to a decision, and no replacement has been named. The defence secretary’s future, and the shape of Trump’s team for the final two years of his presidency, remains an open question, and the answer is likely to come before the new Congress takes its seats in January.
Sources
USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from Reuters, New York Post and The Jerusalem Post.