US President Donald Trump has defended Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth against calls for his impeachment, saying he played a key role in what he described as victories in two wars and in preventing the conflict in the Middle East from escalating.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump said Mr Hegseth had been criticised despite his role in what he described as the destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. He said: “When you talk about Pete Hegseth, you’re talking about somebody who, in fact, won two wars.”
Trump said the US had destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities during the second conflict and claimed this had probably saved Israel and the wider Middle East.
“I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel overall,” he said.
Trump also questioned calls to impeach Hegseth, saying it would be difficult to remove someone who, in his view, had played such an important role in the outcome.
“Now what are they going to do with one of the people who had the most responsibility for this? They want to impeach him,” Trump said.
