Trump and his defence secretary problem

Trump doesn't always get his way. He has already lost one cabinet nomination, that of Michael Gaetz as attorney general. Now he is in danger of losing a second, his nomination for the Pentagon job, Pete Hegseth, until recently a top TV presenter at Fox News. Hegseth is having a helluva time trying to convince doubting Republican senators that he is the man for the Pentagon job, attempting to downplay his reputation for hard drinking and the alleged sexual harrassment issue for which he was never charged, let alone convicted. A handful of Republicans are showing a willingness to vote against his nomination, joining the Democrats in rejecting him. It would be hugely irritating for Trump to lose two nominees but reports suggest he already has another person in mind, Ron DeSantis, Florida governor. Poltics is a wonderul thing. During the election campaign when Ron DeSantis was number two in the line-up for the Republican nomination, Trump pretty remorselessly attacked him and demeaned him and insulted him. But now, it seems, he thinks the Florida governor might make a good replacement if Hegseth falls. DeSantis is a Big Cheese in the political world but does Trump really want a man with his ambitions to be in charge of the Pentagon which will give him almost daily news coverage with the way the world is going. In four years' time, DeSantis might have raised his game to such an extent he could be the one chosen by the Republican party to become the 48th president, rather than Trump's vice president, JD Vance. That wouldn't do. Mind you, Trump can always sack DeSantis if he gets too big for his boots.