Trump’s Defense Secretary Pick Could Shape the Future of the MAGA Movement

Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary could wind up deciding who will inherit the MAGA movement, according to a CNN analyst.

The president-elect’s first nominee Pete Hegseth appears to be losing support from Republican senators over damaging allegations about excessive drinking and abusive behavior toward women, in addition to questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon, and Trump is reportedly considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) to replace him.

“It’s an important day for [Senate GOP leader] John Thune right now,” said CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. “Somebody who has to tell Hegseth today, ‘Listen, you’re not going to get through’ – like that’s his job now, as the Republican leader, to try to clear the decks where there are problems, try to get through as many people as possible, and you know what about Joni Ernst? I mean, what a twist on this – Joni Ernst is basically going to sink his, you know, we would think that she would sink Hegseth’s nomination. She could be defense secretary, and she is very well liked.”

DeSantis could have an edge over Ernst because Trump’s base trusts him more, despite his GOP primary challenge to the former president, and Preston said the governor could set himself up as a successor to the MAGA movement instead of vice president-elect J.D. Vance.

“I mean, look, if he gets to the Senate, he will be confirmed,” Preston said. “If he comes in, we’re talking about now a redrawing of what the MAGA political party is going to look like you know, in a couple of years, because now Ron DeSantis is going to be taken out of Florida, where he knows he’s been very successful. He’s been a successful governor, now he’s going to get that foreign policy background, you know, with him, and then it’s going to be ‘J.D. who?'”