Donald Trump stands by Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth despite drinking, sexual assault allegations: ‘He will be fantastic’

US President-elect Donald Trump backs Pete Hegseth, his nominee for defence secretary, despite Senate doubts over allegations of drinking and sexual misconduct.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday expressed public support for Pete Hegseth, his beleaguered nominee to oversee the defence department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt due to claims of excessive drinking, sexual assault, and his views on women in combat.

US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defence Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters after meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on December 5 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, Army National Guard major, and combat veteran, spent most of the week on Capitol Hill attempting to rescue his Cabinet candidacy.

"Pete Hegseth is doing very well," Trump said on his social media page. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defence." "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!" the president said.

The struggle over Hegseth is developing not only as a discussion about the right person to head the Pentagon, but also as a watershed moment for a movement that appears to enjoy a fight over its quest for a more manly military and the end of what it refers to as "woke-ism." Trump's friends are rallying around Hegseth, and the conservative Heritage Foundation's political arm has pledged $1 million to support his candidacy.

"We're not abandoning this nomination," Vice President-elect JD Vance stated as he toured North Carolina following the catastrophe.

The attempt has become a test of Trump's power and the extent of Republican senators' commitment to the president-elect, who are concerned about some of his selections. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Trump's initial candidate for attorney general, and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump's first choice to oversee the Drug Enforcement Administration, both stepped down in the face of criticism.

Hegseth has sworn not to drink on the job and has informed MPs that he has never committed sexual misconduct, even as his professional opinions on female troops have come under increased scrutiny. He stated only last month that women "straight up" should not serve in combat.

The president-elect and his staff have been thrilled to see Hegseth put up a fight, and his performance this week reinforces why he was picked, according to a source familiar with Trump's thinking who was not authorised to speak publicly. They feel that he can yet be verified.

Still, Trump's transition team has been considering prospective successors if Hegseth's nomination fails, including erstwhile presidential challenger Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Despite a weeklong drive of secret Capitol Hill meetings, Hegseth is encountering opposition from senators as details about his history surface, including the news that he accepted a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault, which he denies.

The New Yorker referenced what it characterised as a whistleblower report and other records regarding his tenure managing a veterans advocacy groups, including incidences of alcohol drunkenness at work gatherings, improper behaviour with female personnel, and financial mismanagement.

The New York Times got an email from his mother, Penelope, in 2018, in which she accused him of mistreating women after he pregnant his current wife while still married to his prior wife. She appeared on "Fox & Friends" this week to defend her son.