President-elect Donald Trump is considering naming Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s current controversial nominee to lead the Pentagon, multiple sources confirm to Fox News.

DeSantis, a bitter Trump rival last year and earlier this year during the fight for the GOP presidential nomination, made peace with Trump after the primaries and helped raise money for Trump during the general election.

The popular conservative governor, a Navy veteran who served in the Iraq War, was re-elected in a landslide in 2022, but his term is limited and he cannot run for re-election in 2026.

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Multiple sources told Fox News that DeSantis is “very interested” in replacing Hegseth.

A source added that it was the president-elect himself who announced the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis discussed the idea when they met on Tuesday while in Florida together at a memorial service for fallen police officers at the Palm Beach County occurred.

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The reporting by Fox News and other organizations comes as Hegseth returns to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to continue meeting with Republican senators as he pushes for confirmation as defense secretary.

Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and was previously a host on Fox News, is facing a series of allegations of drinking and sexual misconduct.

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Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women.

“I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said keep going, keep fighting,” Hegseth told reporters as he arrived on Capitol Hill.

“Why should I back out? I’ve always been a fighter,” he added.

Hegseth also made his arguments in a social media post on Wednesday morning, writing: “I’m doing this for the war fighters, not the warmongers.”

But a top Trump ally in the Senate is worried.

“He obviously has a chance to defend himself here. But some of it is – it’s going to be difficult,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime military veteran and Republican from South Carolina, told reporters Tuesday.

Among the senators Hegseth met with on Wednesday is Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a military veteran and sexual assault victim whose support would be crucial to his Senate confirmation.

Ernst told reporters on the eve of the meeting that she would likely have a “frank and thorough conversation” with Hegseth.

Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, appeared on Fox and Friends on Wednesday to defend her son and “set the record straight.”

“I am here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the American people and to tell the truth to the senators on the Hill, especially the female senators. “I really hope you don’t listen to the media, but listen to Pete,” she added.

If Trump goes ahead and appoints DeSantis and the governor is confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate next year, it would lead to the ascension of Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. She would make history as Florida’s first female governor – and the first of Cuban descent.

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The Wall Street Journal first reported the news that Trump was considering DeSantis for defense secretary.