{"id":2652473,"date":"2026-08-31T16:45:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-sidesteps-hegseth-2028-its-very-early-to-talk-about-that\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:50:07","slug":"trump-sidesteps-hegseth-2028-its-very-early-to-talk-about-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-sidesteps-hegseth-2028-its-very-early-to-talk-about-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump sidesteps Hegseth 2028: &#8216;It&#8217;s very early to talk about that&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-sidesteps-hegseth-2028-its-very-early-to-talk-about-that%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2652473&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump praised War Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s leadership, calling him a &#8220;fantastic&#8221; and emphasizing his focus on the military. Though, he stopped short of endorsing a 2028 White House run by Hegseth, citing it\u2019s too early to discuss such plans and noting the importance of upcoming midterm elections. Trump also acknowledged that many peopel might be considering presidential bids behind the scenes. Hegseth has publicly denied any interest in running for president, dismissing recent rumors about conversations regarding a campaign. Despite this,Hegseth\u2019s increased activity on the political stage,including campaigning in Iowa and against primary opponents,has fueled speculation about his future in politics. Other prominent Republicans like ted Cruz have also indicated interest in running for president. Trump expressed confidence in Hegseth\u2019s job performance, especially praising his involvement in military actions against Iran and Venezuela, and highlighted Hegseth\u2019s dedication to the military.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> praised War Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"1991\">Pete Hegseth<\/a>\u2018s leadership but claimed it was too early to consider backing a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2028-elections\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"11676\">2028<\/a> White House run by the Pentagon chief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think he\u2019s doing a fantastic job, but it\u2019s very early to talk about that,\u201d Trump told the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>while speaking in the Oval Office on Monday. \u201cWe have to get through the midterms, and I think he\u2019s a very good guy. But I\u2019ll bet there\u2019s a lot of people considering it that you don\u2019t know about \u2026 you have a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4706817\/trump-pete-hegseth-2028-candidate\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump sidesteps Pete Hegseth 2028 talk: \u2018It\u2019s very early to talk about that\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4706309\/trump-tariffs-iran-war-voter-discontent-midterms-hugo-gurdon\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump\u2019s tariffs and Iran war driving voter discontent ahead of midterm elections: Hugo Gurdon<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4706083\/truck-driving-schools-english-proficiency-violations\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump administration shuts down 110 truck-driving schools over English proficiency violations<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth has publicly denied interest in running for president. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/six-republican-senators-support-constitutionality-of-trump-impeachment-trial\/\" title=\"Six Republican Senators Support Constitutionality of ... Impeachment Trial\">war secretary<\/a> has even gone as far as to claim that recent reports about him discussing the idea with friends and confidants are \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/2093475499242934557\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/2093475499242934557\">100% false<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, Hegseth\u2019s increasing presence on the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/midterm-elections\/\">2026 campaign trail<\/a> has sparked rumors about his political future. This month, Hegseth appeared in Iowa to campaign for Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/zach-nunn\/\">Zach Nunn<\/a> (R-IA), a two-term lawmaker representing a battleground district. Earlier this year, Hegseth also campaigned against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in Kentucky\u2019s Republican primary, an unusually partisan political activity for a Pentagon chief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis ceiling is as high as he wants it to be,\u201d said Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader who heads the Iowa Family Leader.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several other Republicans, including Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4701097\/trump-ted-cruz-2028-run\/\">Ted Cruz <\/a>(R-TX) have indicated interest in a White House run in two years\u2019 time. Cruz recently said that the GOP is not completely sold on the inevitability of Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"7658\">JD Vance<\/a> as Trump\u2019s MAGA successor. The Texas senator also said that he would be involved in any conversation about the future of the GOP.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4689701\/pete-hegseth-2028-iowa-visit\/\">HEGSETH\u2019S GROWING CAMPAIGN ROLE SPARKS TALK OF POLITICAL FUTURE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite saying it was too early, Trump did not tamp down a potential Hegseth run. Instead, the president praised Hegseth\u2019s handling of the War Department\u2019s fight against Iran, which reignited this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s done a great job. And right now, all he loves is and all he cares about is the military and taking care of the military,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd we went into <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/venezuela\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"910\">Venezuela<\/a>, we won. We went into Iran, and we\u2019re beating the hell out of them, and doing a good job, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump praises Hegseth but says 2028 run is too early<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3421,"featured_media":2652474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26243722385255.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[11331,45173,5894,35293,3634],"class_list":["post-2652473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-11331","tag-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-presidential-candidate","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26243722385255.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2652473"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2652481,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652473\/revisions\/2652481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2652474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2652473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2652473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2652473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}