By Jack Phillips Contributing Writer President-elect Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his support for Pete Hegseth, whom he tapped to become secretary of defense, amid reports and allegations against the Fox News host. This week, several Republican senators indicated that Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon could be in trouble, coming amid reports that cite anonymous sources about his time at Fox News and a 2017 police report that said a woman accused him of assault. No charges were brought, and Hegseth has denied those allegations. “Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was a great student – Princeton/Harvard educated – with a military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high-energy, secretary of defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!” There also have been anonymously sourced reports, which Trump has not confirmed in public, that the president-elect may look to name Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to lead the Department of Defense if Hegseth falters in the Senate. Earlier this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, considered a foreign policy and defense hawk, said he was disturbed by some of the reports that surfaced recently about Hegseth. But later in the week, Graham told reporters that anonymously sourced reports “don’t count.” “I’m not going to make any decision based on an anonymous source. If you’re not willing to raise your hand and make the accusation, it doesn’t count,” he said of anonymous allegations against Hegseth as well as other Trump choices. “I’ve heard everything about all these people. None of it counts, no rumors.” Hegseth had met with multiple senators this week in a bid to shore up support for his nomination amid the recent allegations. Several Fox News personalities, including his “Fox and Friends” co-hosts, have mounted a defense of his character, while his mother spoke to multiple media outlets to defend him. “As long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight,” Hegseth told reporters on Thursday, adding that this won’t “be a process tried in the media.” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, who had previously expressed concerns about Hegseth, spoke positively about Hegseth’s prospects after the two met on Wednesday evening. “I see no reason at this point not to be supportive,” Cramer said. He said he told Hegseth, “It’s really important that we have a clear-eyed secretary of defense if the alarm goes off or the phone rings at 3 in the morning.” Hegseth responded, according to Cramer, that he would be available “at 3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, or any hour in between.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, who joined Hegseth in a congressional meeting with Republicans, also defended the Fox News host. “All of us, at least all of us, have a time to grow up. We’re nominating Pete for who he is today, not for what he did seven years ago or five years ago or whatever it was,” he said. Two of Trump’s other Cabinet choices have stepped down as they faced intense scrutiny: former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, his first choice for attorney general; and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump’s first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. Trump later said that he asked for Chronister to step down. The sheriff stepped down amid resurfaced reports and his social media messages about his activity during COVID-19. “Today’s main headline is: ‘Trump’s DEA Pick Pulls Out in Latest Setback.’ With all that’s happening in the world, this is their No. 1 story of the day. Besides, he didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Actress Dies After Taking Frog Venom in Native 'Cleansing' CeremonyNewcastle United suffered a disappointing home defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League , ending their three-match winning run in all competitions. Goals from Tomas Soucek — the first Newcastle had conceded from a corner in the league this season — and the right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka secured a 2-0 win for West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetegui has been under pressure in recent weeks. Advertisement It was only the third time that Newcastle have lost in the league at St James’ Park in 2024, and counts as a big missed opportunity for Eddie Howe’s side, who sit 10th in the table after 12 games. Chris Waugh analyses the key talking points from the defeat at St James’ Park... Newcastle could have gone two points off Man City The international break definitely did come at the wrong time for Newcastle. Three successive wins in all competitions heading into the two-week hiatus and that momentum has been well and truly checked. Optimism and expectation are dangerous in these parts. There was so much belief among the home faithful heading into this game and, given the respective recent fortunes of both sides, that was understandable. But Newcastle’s season so far has been a case of false starts, stuttering form and inconsistency. Howe keeps mentioning the word “consistency”, admitting that, while it is “boring”, it is what Newcastle desperately require. Newcastle have scored just 13 goals in 12 Premier League matches and only five players have found the back of the net this season, the second-lowest in the top flight. They are not the free-flowing side in attack of the past two seasons, or at least they have only been so on frustratingly few occasions in 2024-25. This defeat was costly, not only affecting their confidence levels, but also representing a missed opportunity. A win would have sent Newcastle sixth, only a point behind the Champions League positions and two shy of second-placed Manchester City. Instead, Newcastle are ninth, only three points above West Ham, who are 14th. The table is ridiculously congested, but even so, until Newcastle start stringing a run of wins together, they will not be able to realise their European-qualification ambitions. Burn was sorely missed in the Newcastle defence Heading into this match, Newcastle had the second-meanest defence in the Premier League. After conceding just four goals in their last seven matches across all competitions and registering four clean sheets during that time, Howe’s side were showing signs of rediscovering the excellent defensive form they displayed throughout the 2022-23 campaign, when they qualified for the Champions League. Advertisement While West Ham were restricted to a first-half expected goals (xG) return of just 0.21 and managed only two shots on target, Newcastle did show uncharacteristic sloppiness when defending a set piece to gift the visitors a 10th-minute lead. Lloyd Kelly , deputising at left-sided centre-half with Dan Burn serving a one-match suspension after picking up five bookings, was marking Soucek. But a couple of feints and some decent movement from Soucek bamboozled Kelly, who lost his man, allowing the Czech Republic international to direct a free header into the right-hand corner of the net from an Emerson Palmieri corner. It was the first time Newcastle had conceded from a corner this season, at the 70th attempt, highlighting Burn’s importance in such situations. He was a fixture of the team who qualified for the Champions League two seasons ago, albeit primarily from left-back, and his height and experience are influential. There was so much optimism and expectation on Tyneside heading into this game and yet one lapse of concentration burst that positive momentum inside 10 minutes. Wilson’s return a rare positive For the first time this season, Callum Wilson was named in a matchday squad. And, for the first time since the final day of 2023-24 at Brentford, he made an appearance, too. Wilson missed the first 14 matches in all competitions due to back and hamstring injuries, while he had featured in just six of a possible 37 across all competitions in 2024. Across six appearances this calendar year, he had played for only 262 minutes due to a succession of fitness issues. Having the 32-year-old back among the substitutes was a huge boost for Newcastle. Yet, by the time he was introduced in the 68th minute, the home side were already 2-0 down and lacking direction. Wilson replaced Anthony Gordon and joined Alexander Isak up front, as Howe switched to a 4-4-2 formation, with Harvey Barnes on the left wing and Jacob Murphy on the right. Advertisement It did not have the desired effect. The gaps between the defence, midfield and front two were too large, and Newcastle were disjointed in their build-up play, at times even directionless. Wilson was rarely given a clear-cut chance, even if he did appeal for a penalty when Konstantinos Mavropanos appeared to put his arms around the striker in the box. Wilson being fit again is a positive for Newcastle, even if it was not on the night. What did Eddie Howe say? We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference. What next for Newcastle? Saturday, November 30: Crystal Palace (A), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET Recommended reading (Carl Recine/Getty Images)Jean-Philippe Mateta struck in the second half with the only real piece of quality in a nervy encounter between two struggling teams. It is now two wins and three draws from the last six matches for Glasner’s side, whose winter revival is gathering pace nicely following a sticky start to the campaign. “I feel very happy, we’re all very pleased with the result, it was not the best performance but the result was more important,” said the Eagles boss. “Most of the time we controlled the game and we scored an amazing goal, a fantastic finish from JP. “We had more chances to decide the game but we couldn’t, but I think the win was well deserved. “We didn’t give them any chances from open play and with a clean sheet you can always take the win. “It’s a big win. Now it’s not time to sit back and relax but to keep going. In four days we face Manchester City. We stay humble. There are still many things to improve but we are on the right path.” Ipswich looked the likelier to score as a low-key first half drew to a close and were denied by a point-blank save by Dean Henderson from Harry Clarke’s near-post header. Shortly after the interval Wes Burns got clear down the right and lifted an inviting cross towards Liam Delap, whose header was straight at Henderson. However, from out of nowhere Palace conjured up a lightning counter-attack to go ahead on the hour. Eberechi Eze led the charge before feeding Mateta, who surged forward with a couple of stepovers before brushing off the attention of Jacob Greaves and finishing superbly past Arijanet Muric. It was the French forward’s sixth goal of the season, and his first away from Selhurst Park. Back came Ipswich with Leif Davis fizzing in another cross for Delap, who somehow mistimed his jump and completely missed the ball from six yards. As time ticked down Greaves looped a header against the far post, with the rebound just eluding substitute Ali-Al Hamadi. “Frustrating night,” said Town boss Kieran McKenna. “It was a tight first half, we weren’t fantastic in terms of the flow of the game and didn’t create as many opportunities as we wanted. But having said that neither did our opponents. “In the second half we conceded a really poor goal and that proved decisive. We can do better than we did tonight.”