Trump Hints at 'a Few' Cabinet Changes in 60 Minutes Interview, Stands by Hegseth
Asked whether he planned to fire anyone after Republicans lost Congress, President Donald Trump answered, 'I do, yeah, a little bit' — in the interview recorded hours before his chief of staff's departure was announced.
President Donald Trump said he expects to make changes to his Cabinet after Republicans' midterm losses, in a 60 Minutes interview with correspondent Ross Douthat that aired Sunday. Asked whether he planned to fire anyone, Trump replied, according to USA TODAY's report of the interview: 'I do, yeah, a little bit. I love my Cabinet. I think they're good. But I'll be doing maybe a few changes.' He did not name who might go.
The timing is part of the story. CBS conducted the interview hours before White House chief of staff Susie Wiles announced her departure, USA TODAY reported — the change this station covered Friday, with Stephen Miller succeeding Wiles on Monday. The electoral backdrop is now counted: Republicans have so far lost seven Senate seats, with results in Mississippi and Alaska still pending, and 42 House seats, one more than the party lost in Trump's first midterms in 2018.
The one name Trump did address was the Pentagon's. Douthat noted that the CBS crew had seen Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House ahead of the interview, and Trump expressed confidence in him, USA TODAY reported, even as Hegseth faces criticism over the Iran war and an impeachment effort introduced September 15 by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. For Dallas–Fort Worth, the file matters the way Friday's did: the administration being reshaped is the one whose immigration, energy and spending policies run directly through North Texas, and its new chief of staff starts work Monday morning.
