US President Donald Trump has defended Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth as Republican Representative Thomas Massie moves to force a congressional vote on his impeachment.
Speaking on Monday, Trump claimed Hegseth “won two wars” and praised his handling of military operations in Venezuela and Iran.
“He won the war in Venezuela,” Trump said, describing the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro as “was flawless”.
“He’s winning the war in Iran,” he added.
Trump also attacked Massie, calling him “a stone cold loser” and “sick”.
Massie introduced an impeachment resolution accusing Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanours” over US military operations in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela.
The Republican congressman argued that Hegseth had violated international rules governing warfare and endangered American troops.
House Speaker Mike Johnson opposed the effort, warning against removing a defence secretary during an ongoing conflict.
“Impeaching a cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that,” Johnson said.
Hegseth defended the military operations and announced plans to address the impeachment threat at a news conference on Tuesday.
A House vote could take place by midweek, following Republican losses in the midterm elections.
