The key facts

  • Trump answered “No, I think he’s doing a very good job” when asked about dismissing Hegseth
  • It was previously reported that the secretary’s position could have been shaken by the war with Iran and the midterm election results
  • Trump blamed rising fuel prices for the Republicans’ defeat

The president publicly backed the defense secretary

US President Donald Trump said he does not intend to dismiss Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, despite reports in American media about possible personnel changes. “No, I think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump replied to a journalist’s question; his remarks were reported by Fox News, as noted by Life.ru and Gazeta.Ru.

What preceded the statement

The question of the dismissal did not arise out of nowhere. According to The Atlantic, which Life.ru cited, Trump was looking for those responsible for the drawn-out war with Iran, and Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine could have been at risk. Sources for the outlet claimed that dissatisfaction with the military leadership’s forecasts about the course of the conflict was growing in the president’s circle. In addition, in late October CNN reported that Hegseth’s political future would be under threat if the Democrats won the midterm congressional elections.

Election context

The statement came right after the midterm congressional elections, in which a third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, and governors in 36 states were elected. Before the vote, both chambers were controlled by the Republican Party; the elections will produce the 120th Congress, which will begin work on January 3, 2027. Trump himself admitted that the results surprised him, but refused to consider the Republicans’ defeat his own, citing rising fuel prices as the reason. Thus, the public expression of confidence in Hegseth came precisely at the moment when a threat to his position after the elections had previously been forecast. Separately, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that a new conversation between Putin and Trump is not planned at this time — the question was asked ahead of three-party talks on Ukraine and after the US elections.