{"id":16616,"date":"2025-10-11T20:09:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T20:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=16616"},"modified":"2025-10-11T20:09:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T20:09:57","slug":"report-pete-hegseth-considering-campaign-to-be-tennessees-next-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=16616","title":{"rendered":"Report: Pete Hegseth Considering Campaign To Be Tennessee\u2019s Next Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly weighing a possible run for office in his home state of Tennessee, raising eyebrows inside and outside the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

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Two sources with direct knowledge say Hegseth has quietly told allies he\u2019s considering a political future beyond the Pentagon. The 45-year-old has emerged as one of the most high-profile figures in President Trump\u2019s second term, gaining national attention during his Senate confirmation battle and earning political capital that insiders say he may be ready to cash in, NBS News\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

If Hegseth does step down to run, it would mark the biggest shake-up to Trump\u2019s cabinet since the high-profile exit of Elon Musk, who left his post as advisor and head of the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to comment on the rumors. \u201cHegseth\u2019s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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One source who spoke directly with Hegseth in the past three weeks said he sounded serious about the idea of launching a campaign. Another confirmed they had discussed it with him since his appointment as defense secretary in January.<\/p>\n

The office he appears most drawn to is governor, according to one person who spoke with him about eligibility requirements.<\/p>\n

If Hegseth runs, he would have to resign from the Pentagon before making any public declaration. The Department of Defense prohibits employees from campaigning for office.<\/p>\n

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NBC News, which first reported the story, cited another individual who said Hegseth had discussed the challenge of running his first campaign.<\/p>\n

Both sources told NBC it\u2019s still unclear whether Hegseth will actually go through with it.<\/p>\n

Hegseth himself blasted the story and the network behind it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFake news NBC is so desperate for attention, they are shopping around a made up story\u2026 again,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly two options exist: either the \u2018sources\u2019 are imaginary or these reporters are getting punked. Secretary Hegseth\u2019s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump and advancing the America First mission at the Department of Defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third source \u2014 someone not in Hegseth\u2019s inner circle \u2014 dismissed the idea that he\u2019s leaving his post anytime soon. That source told NBC the claim was \u201ctotally off the table\u201d and insisted Hegseth had been \u201cvery, very clear\u201d about staying put.<\/p>\n

A longtime Trump advisor echoed that sentiment, telling NBC that the expectation inside the administration is that Hegseth will remain defense secretary through the midterms.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month President Donald Trump held his sixth Cabinet meeting of this year and addressed several major topics.<\/p>\n

After delivering brief remarks, Trump took a few questions from reporters in the room.<\/p>\n

A reporter asked the president about accusations that Russia had deployed chemical weapons in Ukraine. According to Dutch and German intelligence, Russian soldiers have used drone-launched choking chemicals to push Ukrainians out of trenches and shoot them. The United States accused Russia of deploying chemical weapons last year.<\/p>\n

The reporter noted the Dutch and German intelligence findings and asked Trump, \u201cWhat does U.S. intelligence believe and what do you believe about the use of chemical weapons?\u201d<\/p>\n

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As she spoke, Trump leaned back in his chair and slowly turned to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was to the president\u2019s left.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know about this, Pete?\u201d Trump whispered as the reporter kept speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn might know,\u201d Hegseth replied, referring to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d ask John, maybe, to discuss it, if you\u2019d like,\u201d Trump told the reporter. \u201cJohn?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. President, obviously, chemical weapons \u2013 if it\u2019s documented and it\u2019s used \u2013 it\u2019s illegal,\u201d Ratcliffe replied to the president. \u201cIt\u2019s against all international laws of armed conflict and treaties. And obviously, I can\u2019t share in this room with this audience, the intelligence that I can share with you, privately. But obviously, you\u2019re not gonna stand or allow for any violations of international law by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Trump responded. \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Getty Images This article may contain commentary which reflects the author\u2019s opinion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly weighing a possible run for office in his home state of Tennessee, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16618,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16616\/revisions\/16618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}