While Gov. Ron DeSantis is reportedly a top contender to be nominated as defense secretary under President-elect Donald Trump, people around the two men see obstacles that could keep Trump from offering the job and DeSantis from accepting it.
The Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau spoke to 11 political insiders close to both DeSantis and Trump for this story. The potential hurdles are both personal and political.
Trump’s current nominee isn’t sunk yet. And he has a major champion in U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican who has never had a warm relationship with DeSantis, who succeeded him when he left office in January 2019.
“.@PeteHegseth has gone into combat and put his life on the line for our country,” Scott said in a statement on X late Wednesday evening. “He will do an unbelievable job at the Department of Defense, and that’s why I support him.”
DeSantis served in the Navy as a lawyer and at one point advised U.S. Navy SEALs in Iraq.
Hegseth, a Fox and Friends co-host and Trump ally, has been mired in controversy since the Washington Post reported he paid a woman for her silence after she accused him of rape. Hegseth has denied the rape allegation and insisted that the encounter was consensual.
It’s well known that DeSantis and Trump traded barbs during the Republican presidential primary last year. And while they have since buried the hatchet, with DeSantis offering to fundraise for Trump during the general election, both DeSantis and the president-elect have reputations for holding grudges.
One potential comparison drawn was between DeSantis and Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. In 2016, Romney called Trump during his first presidential bid “a phony, a fraud.” But Romney still wanted to be U.S. secretary of state when Trump floated his name as a possible nomination after he won the election.
The about-face came to nothing in the end. Trump ultimately passed over Romney — but not before publishing a picture of Trump and a sheepish-looking Romney meeting over dinner.
This analogy only goes so far. DeSantis has largely stayed away from taking moral positions against Trump, focusing instead on political differences. He argued during his presidential primary campaign that the party was ready for the next iteration of Trump, one who had less baggage and more focus on implementing the conservative agenda.
But at times they have disagreed over what that agenda should be.
Trump has taken issue with DeSantis’ approach in Florida to the insurance crisis, recreational marijuana and abortion. And Trump’s incoming chief of staff is Susie Wiles, who was ousted by DeSantis after she helped him win his first gubernatorial bid in 2018.
Wiles didn’t return a request for comment. Spokespeople for Trump and DeSantis also did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
There have been different opinions on this. The defense secretary job is high-profile and would keep DeSantis in D.C. and potentially on television, both of which would help him build support for a potential 2028 presidential bid.
But the job is a federal government position, which would make raising money more difficult thanks to a 1939 law called the Hatch Act that prohibits executive branch employees from participating in certain political activities, including soliciting and accepting campaign contributions.
On the other hand, the restriction may not be all that enforceable. The Office of Special Counsel investigated Hatch Act complaints and found in a report released in 2021 that 13 senior Trump officials had violated it during his first term as president. The report notes that “discipline is no longer possible once subjects leave government service.”
It’s also a new job. DeSantis would be pivoting to a new agenda, which is always a risk. He’s overwhelmingly powerful in Florida, ground zero for the new Republican Party. And when he terms out of his governorship in 2027, he could easily transition into campaigning for president.
Serving in a Cabinet post would also limit DeSantis’ ability to criticize or distance himself from the Trump administration in a future presidential bid. If he remains in the governor’s mansion for another two years, DeSantis could still play the role of Trump ally, while maintaining an air of independence from the president-elect and his agenda.
DeSantis’ net worth in December of last year was nearly $1.8 million, according to a state ethics form elected officials must fill out each year. Much of his wealth came from the publishing of his 2023 memoir, “Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” DeSantis’ gubernatorial salary last year was $141,400. He still owed $16,929.11 in student loans. He had no mortgage. He lives in the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee.
Becoming defense secretary would come with a significant raise for DeSantis; as of this year, the job pays $246,400 annually.
But it could also come with new bills: If DeSantis, who has three young children, leaves his job to take the defense secretary position, he may have to purchase or lease not just one home, but two — one in Florida and one in Washington.
For all the prestige that comes with serving in a presidential administration, Cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president, meaning DeSantis could be pushed out of office on a whim if that’s what Trump wants.
During his first term in the White House, the famously mercurial Trump repeatedly ousted and replaced advisers and appointees. His first defense secretary, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, served in the role for just under two years.
If he remains in the Governor’s Mansion, DeSantis will stay in the political spotlight for at least another two years — a guarantee he wouldn’t have if he takes the job at the Pentagon.
McClatchy Chief Washington Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
Alexandra Glorioso is a state government reporter for the Miami Herald and is based in Tallahassee.
Miami Herald Senior Political Correspondent
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