ISTANBUL

About six months into his Cabinet tenure, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has privately talked about the possibility of running for political office in Tennessee next year, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

Discussions reportedly focused on what Hegseth would need to do to run for governor of the Southern state, including the eligibility requirements, evaluations of his chances of winning, and the practical challenges involved in launching a campaign.

According to the report, sources described their conversation with Hegseth as “serious” and not just casual brainstorming.

If Hegseth pursues a gubernatorial run, he would need to resign from his position at the Defense Department, prompting a major leadership change. As one of the more prominent Cabinet posts, US defense secretaries typically serve for several years, sometimes even under more than one president.

But Sean Parnell, a senior aide to Hegseth, denied the reports, saying in a statement that the Pentagon chief’s focus “remains solely on serving under President Trump and advancing the America First mission at the Department of Defense.”

Parnell called the claims “fake news” and accused NBC of “shopping around a made-up story,” suggesting the sources are either fake or the reporters were misled.

Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer and Fox News host, previously ran for the US Senate in Minnesota in 2012 but dropped out after losing the Republican nomination.

If Hegseth were to declare his candidacy, Trump could temporarily replace him with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, or Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, both Senate-confirmed and able to serve as acting defense secretary without further confirmation, the report said.

It is not unknown for former Cabinet secretaries to seek a governor’s seat, but a Senate run is more common.

After confirmation hearings shadowed by allegations of misconduct, Hegseth’s time as defense secretary has been rocked by controversy, including over a discussion of military matters in a publicly available messaging app and his allegedly cutting off aid to Ukraine without the president’s knowledge.