The Pentagon unveiled a new counter-drone strategy after a spate of incursions near U.S. bases prompted concerns over a lack of an action plan for the increasing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Though much of the strategy remains classified, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will implement a new counter-drone office within the Pentagon – Joint Counter-Small UAS Office – and a new Warfighter Senior Integration Group, according to a new memo. 

The Pentagon will also begin work on a second Replicator initiative, but it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to decide whether to fund this plan. The first Replicator initiative worked to field inexpensive, dispensable drones to thwart drone attacks by adversarial groups across the Middle East and elsewhere.  

The memo warned that the increased use of unmanned systems must reshape U.S. tactics, as they make it easier for adversaries to ‘surveil, disrupt and attack our forces … potentially without attribution.’ 

The plan outlines a five-pronged approach: deepening understanding of enemy drones, launching offensive campaigns to thwart their ability to build such systems, improving ‘active and passive’ defenses to such attacks, rapid increase of production of counter-drone systems and making counter-drone focus a top priority for future force development. 

For the past year, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been using small, one-way unmanned aerial systems to strike western shipping routes in the Red Sea. 

That has led to perilous waters along a trade route that typically sees some $1 trillion in goods pass through it, as well as shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and the Yemeni people. 

Some experts have deemed the U.S. response inadequate in deterring the Houthis from inflicting billions of dollars worth of damage to the global economy. 

Additionally, the cost of U.S. response to such attacks is disproportionate. While the Houthi drones are estimated to cost around $2,000 each, the naval missiles the U.S. fires back can run around $2 million a shot. 

In September, Houthis took out two U.S. Reaper drones in a week, machinery that costs around $30 million a piece. 

Deadly drone strikes have also been launched by both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

‘Unmanned systems pose both an urgent and enduring threat to U.S. personnel, facilities, and assets overseas,’ the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday announcing the strategy. 

‘By producing a singular Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems, the Secretary and the Department are orienting around a common understanding of the challenge and a shared approach to addressing it.’

Three U.S. service members were killed in a drone strike in January in Jordan. Experts warned the U.S. lacks a clear counter-drone procedure after 17 unmanned vehicles traipsed into restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December. 

The mystery drones swarmed for more than two weeks. Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do – other than allow the 20-foot-long drones to hover near their classified facilities. 

Langley is home to some of the nation’s most vital top secret facilities and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. 

Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. 

A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast.

The Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the facility.

The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the culmination of years of civil war, has given way to a power vacuum with different factions protecting their own interests – and vying for power in the Middle Eastern nation. 

The U.S., worried about the resurgence of an ISIS stronghold, has struck targets associated with the Islamic State in central Syria. 

Turkey, which controls a zone of Syria on its northern border, has continued to attack U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. 

Both work with different proxy groups. 

Here’s a look at the different forces vying for control in the region:

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

HTS was the key faction behind the fall of Damascus and the fleeing of Assad, and now controls the capital city. But the Islamist militant group is far from a U.S. ally – its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head and has been designated a terrorist since 2013. The group governed just a sliver of northwest Syria in Idlib. 

The group, founded as an al Qaeda affiliate, still remains largely aligned with al Qaeda but focuses on establishing fundamentalist Islamic rule in Syria rather than a global caliphate. 

The U.N., U.S. and Turkey all designate HTS as a terrorist organization. The group, in recent years, has worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist group, highlighting its government services in Idlib and promising to protect religious and cultural sites, even churches, in Aleppo. 

Experts believe Turkey, which has long looked to topple Assad, may have been at play in HTS’ offensive. 

Syrian government forces 

Syria’s forces loyal to Assad have staved off coup attempts since 2011, often through violent crackdowns on protests and rebellion. 

By 2020, government troops backed by Iran, Russia and Lebanese Hezbollah had pushed rebel forces back to the northwest corner of Syria. 

In the waning days of November, rebel factions swiftly overpowered government troops, seizing control of Aleppo – a city previously reclaimed by Assad’s forces in 2016. Eight days later, the insurgents successfully captured not only Aleppo, but also Hama, Homs and Damascus.

On Monday, HTS granted Assad’s forces ‘a general amnesty for all military personnel conscripted under compulsory service.’

‘Their lives are safe and no one may assault them,’ the group said in a statement.

Syrian National Army (SNA) 

The SNA is a loosely bound coalition of Turkish-backed forces primarily intent on fighting Kurdish forces. But the coalition, which carries out Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s anti-Assad efforts, was also involved in the fall of Damascus. The groups have – in the past – also battled HTS and other Islamic State terrorists. 

The SNA coalition believes U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria to be linked to Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group that has launched Kurdish nationalist attacks in Turkey.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) 

SDF is a coalition of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, centered in northeastern Syria. They have long worked alongside the U.S. in battling Islamic State forces in Syria.

In addition to fighting the Islamic State, they’ve been fending off attacks from Turkish-backed fighters. 

Kurdish forces were not involved in the offensive that toppled Assad, but they hailed the offensive campaign. 

‘In Syria, we are living through historic moments as we witness the fall of the authoritarian regime in Damascus. This change presents an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians,’ said Mazlum Abdi, the commander of the SDF, on Sunday morning. 

Turkey 

After relatively friendly relations with Syria throughout the early 2000s, Turkey condemned Assad over the violent 2011 crackdown on protesters. 

While Turkey and the U.S. are allies – bound to protect each other through NATO – they are on opposing sides in Syria, even as both celebrated Assad’s downfall. The Turkish military fired on U.S.-backed forces in Syria over the weekend, where fighting erupted between rebel groups in Manbij, a Kurdish-controlled city near Syria’s border with Turkey. Turkey has long had a goal of pushing the Kurds away from its border, and is looking to use the current turmoil to capture control along the border and decimate the Kurdish population there.  

Kurdish separatists have fought Turkey for years, looking to carve out their own autonomous nation. 

Russia

Russia has long propped up the Assad regime, and days ago granted the ousted leader asylum.

Since 2015, Russia has effectively acted as Assad’s air force, but its capacity to intervene on the dictator’s behalf has diminished since resources were needed for the war with Ukraine. 

Iran 

Iran was Assad’s biggest supporter, providing arms and military advice and directing its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah to fight the insurgents. But Hezbollah had to direct its troops back to Lebanon to fight Israel, leaving Assad’s forces in a weakened position. 

HTS leader al-Jolani lamented in a speech on Sunday that Syria had become ‘a playground for Iranian ambitions.’

Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited his forces’ weakening of Hezbollah for playing a key role in the fall of Assad. Israel has consistently launched strikes against Syria with the strategic aim of disrupting the channels Iran uses to supply arms to Hezbollah.

After Assad’s fall, Israel, on Sunday, struck Assad’s chemical weapons facilities within Syria, for fear of what hands they may fall into in his absence. 

Israel also captured control of a buffer zone within the Golan Heights, the first time they’ve captured territory in Syria since the war in 1973. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved in on Sunday and told residents to remain in their homes until further notice. They said they needed to capture the territory to ensure border security. 

They also captured Mount Hermon – the highest point on the border between the two countries and a blind spot in their defenses that Iran had been exploiting to send low-flying drones. 

U.S. 

Some 900 U.S. troops remain in Syria, where they are partnered with the SDF to fight ISIS. 

On Sunday, President Biden said U.S. troops would remain there to ‘ensure stability.’ 

The U.S. carried out dozens of precision strikes on more than 75 ISIS targets in central Syria over the weekend to prevent the terrorist group from exploiting the unrest to rebuild. 

‘We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to re-establish its capability to create a safe haven,’ Biden said. ‘We will not let that happen.’

Biden said the U.S. would support Syria’s neighbors – Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel – ‘should any threat arise from Syria during this transition.’

The president added that the fall of Assad created a ‘historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria.’

Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley doubled down that he believes Christopher Wray has failed his ‘fundamental duties’ as FBI director in a blistering letter expressing he has ‘no confidence’ in Wray’s continued leadership over the agency. 

‘For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives. I’ve spent my career fighting for transparency, and I’ve always called out those in government who have fought against it,’ Grassley wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday morning, referring also to the FBI’s deputy director Paul Abbate. ‘For the public record, I must do so once again now.’

Grassley went on to say he ‘must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI. President-elect Trump has already announced his intention to nominate a candidate to replace you, and the Senate will carefully consider that choice. For my part, I’ve also seen enough, and hope your respective successors will learn from these failures,’ Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, continued. 

The longtime Republican senator’s letter comes as Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, headed to Capitol Hill on Monday to meet with lawmakers, including Grassley, and rally support for his confirmation. 

Before the Senate could potentially confirm Patel as FBI chief under the second Trump administration, Wray would need to step down or be fired, as he is in the midst of a 10-year appointment that does not end until 2027. 

Grassley’s lengthy letter to Wray, which spans 11 pages, detailed specific examples of Wray’s ‘failures​​’ as FBI director, which Grassley said ‘shattered my confidence in your leadership and the confidence and hope many others in Congress placed in you.’ The Iowa senator previously argued that Wray has ‘failed’ as FBI director in a social media message posted one day after Trump nominated Patel as FBI chief. 

Grassley pointed to the FBI’s ‘unprecedented raid’ of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 regarding classified documents as an example of Wray’s failures. The Republican senator noted the raid included about 30 armed agents who were authorized to ‘​​use lethal force if needed’ in order to execute the search warrant. 

The agents ‘even searched the former First Lady’s clothing drawers,’ Grassley continued. 

‘This raid occurred despite serious questions about the need for it. President Trump apparently was cooperating with the investigation, notwithstanding liberal press reports. He voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation,’ Grassley continued, adding that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never faced such a raid ‘even though she and her staff mishandled highly classified information while using a non-government server.’

He also hit the FBI for acting as an ‘accomplice to the Democrats’ false information campaign designed to undermine my investigation of alleged Biden-family corruption.’

‘On August 6, 2020, as Senator Ron Johnson and I were finishing our report on the Biden family’s financial connections to foreign governments and questionable foreign nationals, you succumbed to pressure from Democrats in Congress and provided an unnecessary briefing that Democratic leadership requested in an effort to falsely label our investigation as Russian disinformation.’ 

‘That briefing consisted of information we already knew and information that wasn’t connected to our Biden investigation. We made clear at the time our concern that the briefing would be subject to a leak that would shed false light on the focus of our investigation. Predictably, on May 1, 2021, the Washington Post did just that, falsely labeling our investigation as Russian disinformation,’ he continued. 

He added that the FBI ‘sat on bribery allegations’ against Biden when he served as vice president, as well as Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and Ukrainian officials. 

‘Consistent with that FBI failure, yet another glaring example of FBI’s broken promises under your leadership is its inexcusable failure to investigate bribery allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, while strictly scrutinizing former President Trump. You’ve repeatedly claimed you would ensure the FBI does justice, ‘free of fear, favor, or partisan influence.’ The FBI under your watch, however, had possession of incriminating information against President Biden for three years until I exposed the existence of the record outlining those allegations, but did nothing to investigate it,’ he wrote. 

Grassley argued that under Wray’s leadership, the FBI has also shown an ‘​​outright disdain for congressional oversight,’ including failure to provide lawmakers with information related to the ‘​FBI’s ongoing mishandling of sexual harassment claims’ made by female employees. 

‘This request was not pulled out of a hat. It was based on credible whistleblower disclosures alleging hundreds of FBI employees had retired or resigned to avoid accountability for sexual misconduct,’ Grassley wrote. 

The FBI also ‘refused’ to provide information to lawmakers regarding the vetting process of Afghan nationals amid the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from the nation in 2021, Grassley added. The FBI also came under fire from Grassley for ‘refusing to provide information to Congress on the FBI’s ‘Richmond memo,’’ which has become known as the anti-Catholic memo for depicting traditional Catholics as violent extremists. 

‘Your and Deputy Director Abbate’s failure to take control of the FBI has hindered my work and others’ work throughout multiple Congresses on matters that needed timely information, and has prevented the truth on some issues from ever reaching the American people. You’ve also shown a continuing double standard and failure to carry through on promises,’ Grassley wrote in his letter.

When asked about Grassley’s letter, the FBI told Fox News Digital that ‘the FBI has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people.’

‘Director Wray and Deputy Director Abbate have taken strong actions toward achieving accountability in the areas mentioned in the letter and remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work of the FBI.’

Trump joined NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ for an interview that aired Sunday, where the president-elect also slammed Wray and said the ‘FBI’s respect has gone way down over the last number of years.’

‘He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled,’ Trump said during the interview. 

‘I certainly can not be happy with him. Take a look at what’s happened. And then when I was shot in the ear, he said, maybe it was shrapnel. Where’s the shrapnel coming from? Is it coming from heaven? I don’t think so. So we need somebody to – you know, I have a lot of respect for the FBI. But the FBI’s respect has gone way down over the last number of years,’ Trump continued. 

Wray has not revealed whether he will voluntarily step down as FBI director, with Trump expected to fire Wray in order to make room for Patel as FBI director. 

Patel is a longtime Trump ally and crusader against the ‘deep state,’ who has advocated for the firings of  ‘corrupt actors’ within the FBI, ‘aggressive’ congressional oversight over the agency, complete overhauls to special counsels, and moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Grassley’s letter, but did not immediately receive responses. 

Pro-life leaders are sounding off about the ‘serious and growing threat’ of chemical abortion pills after President-elect Trump said he would not restrict access to the pills as president.

Abortion pills, also known as chemical abortion, are now the most common abortion method, accounting for over 60% of all U.S. abortions.

During an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ this past weekend, Trump was asked whether he would restrict abortion pill access via executive action.

Trump responded definitively that ‘the answer is no.’

He added: ‘I’ll probably stay with exactly what I’ve been saying for the last two years,’ that abortion is a state, not a federal issue.

Pressed whether he would commit to not restricting abortion pills, the president-elect said: ‘Well I commit’ but noted circumstances may change.

‘Do things change? I think they change,’ he went on, pointing to how President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden after repeatedly categorically committing otherwise. 

‘I don’t like putting myself in a position like that,’ he said. ‘So, things do change, but I don’t think it’s going to change at all.’

Chemical abortion access was significantly expanded under the Biden administration, which permanently removed a requirement for the pills to be administered through in-person appointments and allowed the drugs to be delivered via mail or obtained at retail pharmacies like CVS or Walgreens.

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said ‘unregulated, mail-order abortion drugs are a serious and growing threat to women’s health and safety, as well as the lives of countless unborn children, all across this country.’

While she criticized the ‘reckless actions’ of the Biden-Harris administration to expand abortion pill access, Dannenfelser said ‘no one who cares about the health and well-being of women can afford to ignore this issue.’ 

Referring to the recent high-profile deaths of Catherine Herring, Amber Thurman, Candi Miller and Alyona Dixon due to abortion pill complications, Dannenfelser said ‘even the pro-abortion media can’t hide that these drugs are killing women and fueling dangerous new forms of domestic violence.’

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, indicated she was optimistic about Trump seeing the danger of unrestricted chemical abortion access, telling Fox News Digital: ‘Many leaders are just now learning about how the pills harm women and the environment.’  

‘We have a lot to talk about with the Trump-Vance administration,’ Hawkins said, adding, ‘President Trump has shown himself to be a reasonable leader who makes decisions based on the best information available.’

‘We hope to be agents of change, providing new information about how the changes made by the Biden-Harris administration on chemical abortion pill policy expose women to injury, infertility, and death, empowers abusers and allows for drinking water pollution through the flushing of medical waste,’ she said. ‘So, we look forward to a frank discussion about what three Democratic Party presidents did to help their friends in Big Abortion Pharma. We can’t wait to give President Trump the new information he needs to act.’ 

Meanwhile, Brian Burch, president of the conservative activism group ‘CatholicVote,’ told Fox News Digital that Trump’s admission that ‘things do change,’ signals ‘he would be open to addressing the overwhelming body of evidence that shows how harmful these drugs are to women.’

‘Big Pharma has exploited far too many women for too long, and the abortion industry should not get a pass when it comes to drug protocols and evidence-based regulations,’ he said. ‘Given President Trump’s pro-life record, together with the personnel he has nominated to key positions, we remain hopeful the new administration will take a serious look at these drugs and act accordingly.’

: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is looking for answers from the FBI after President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the bureau was reportedly targeted by Iranian hackers. 

‘For an Iranian-backed group to have targeted the potential next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is extremely alarming,’ the North Carolina senator wrote in a Monday letter to FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. ‘Also alarming is the speed at which sensitive and potentially classified information about this attack spread to the news media.’

It was reported by several outlets last week that Kash Patel, who Trump has chosen to be his nominee for FBI director in his new administration, was the target of an Iranian hacking attempt.

In response to reports of the hack attempt, Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told Fox News Digital, ‘Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director.’ 

In his letter, Tillis pointed to various law enforcement sources that apparently communicated with news publications. 

‘As you know, it is imperative that the FBI and other intelligence agencies maintain confidentiality to ensure the American people are safe from enemies at home and abroad. The release of this information raises major national security and personal safety concerns,’ he wrote.

The Republican asked Abbate a series of questions, including whether FBI employees shared information about the cyberattack with either the media or with third parties that could’ve given it to the media.

The FBI told Fox News Digital that it received the letter but had no further comment.

Patel has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill and meeting with senators as he looks to shore up support before Trump is inaugurated in January.

President-elect Trump on Sunday nominated Harmeet K. Dhillon as the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department.

Trump said Dhillon has consistently protected civil liberties throughout her career, including taking on Big Tech for censoring free speech, representing Christians who were not allowed to pray together during the COVID-19 pandemic, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their employees.

‘Harmeet is one of the top election lawyers in the country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School and clerked in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.’

‘Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community,’ he added. ‘In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY.’

Trump also wrote in a separate post that Mark Paoletta will return as general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget.

In the role, Trump said, Paoletta will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut the size of ‘our bloated government bureaucracy and root out wasteful and anti-American spending.’

Trump called Paoletta a brilliant and tenacious lawyer, crediting him with working to advance his agenda in the first term, while leading the charge to find funding to build a wall at the southern border.

Mark is a partner at the law firm Shaerr Jaffe LLP and a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America.

‘Mark has served as a Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations in Congress for a decade and was a key lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office to confirm Justice Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991,’ Trump wrote. ‘Mark is a conservative warrior who knows the ‘ins and outs’ of Government – He will help us, Make America Great Again!’

And finally, Trump announced that KC Crosbie is running to become the next co-chair of the Republican National Committee to replace Lara Trump.

‘Lara, together with Chairman Michael Whatley, transformed the RNC into a lean, focused, and powerful machine that is empowering the MAGA Movement for many years to come,’ the president-elect said. ‘Thank you for your hard work, Lara, in MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

The incoming president also said Crosbie has helped ‘real’ Republicans get elected across the U.S. and would make a tremendous co-chair.

‘KC will work on continuing to ensure a highly functioning, fiscally responsible, and effective RNC that makes Election Integrity a highest priority,’ Trump said. ‘KC Crosbie has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Co-Chair of the RNC!’

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate and a member of the Armed Services Committee, has signaled toward supporting President-elect Trump’s nominee for defense secretary.

After meeting on Monday for a second time with Pete Hegseth, Ernst wrote in a statement that ‘as I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.’

An Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who until last month was a longtime Fox News host, Hegseth has been the focus of a slew of reports spotlighting a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations. 

Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women and has vowed that he won’t drink ‘a drop of alcohol’ if confirmed as defense secretary. A separate report showcased allegations Hegseth mismanaged a veterans nonprofit organization that he once led.

Ernst, a conservative lawmaker first elected to the Senate in 2014, is considered a pivotal vote in the confirmation battle over Hegseth, who in the past has questioned the role of women in combat.

The senator is also a survivor of sexual assault who has a strong legislative record of addressing sexual assault and harassment in the military.

She said in her statement that ‘following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women – based on quality and standards, not quotas – and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.’

Ernst’s office told Fox News on Monday that ‘the senator has consistently followed the process, which she has said since the beginning, and doing her job as a United States senator.’

After meeting with Hegseth last week, Ernst said in a social media post that she and Trump’s defense secretary nominee had a ‘frank and thorough’ conversation. 

A day later, when asked in an interview on Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ if she wasn’t ready to vote to confirm Hegseth, the senator replied, ‘I think you are right.’

Ahead of his second meeting with the senator, Hegseth told Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie, ‘I’m really looking forward to meeting with Sen. Ernst. I appreciate her. I respect her background and her service. She’s incredible. And the ongoing conversation has been very fruitful.’

Over the past few days, a high-profile Trump ally has threatened to fuel a primary challenge against Ernst when she’s up for re-election in 2026.

‘This is the red line. This is not a joke. … The funding is already being put together. Donors are calling like crazy. Primaries are going to be launched,’ said Charlie Kirk, an influential conservative activist and radio and TV host who co-founded and steers Turning Point USA.

Kirk, on his radio program, warned that ‘if you support the president’s agenda, you’re good. You’re marked safe from a primary. You go up against Pete Hegseth, the president repeatedly, then don’t be surprised, Joni Ernst, if all of a sudden you have a primary challenge in Iowa.’

In Iowa, conservative commentator and media personality Steve Deace took to social media and used his radio program to highlight that he would consider launching a primary challenge against Ernst.

‘Defeating an incumbent US Senator takes high name ID, connections, and funding potential,’ Deace wrote. ‘I’m one of the few people in Iowa with all three.’

Deace, who supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in this year’s Iowa GOP presidential caucus, said, ‘I don’t want to be a Senator, but I am willing to primary her for the good of the cause if I’m assured I have Trump’s support going in. Or I am willing to throw my support and network behind someone else President Trump prefers to primary Joni Ernst instead.’

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a top Trump supporter in the Iowa caucuses, wrote a column on Breitbart urging Hegseth’s confirmation.

While she didn’t mention Ernst by name, Bird took aim at ‘D.C. politicians’ who ‘think they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years.’

David Kochel, a veteran GOP consultant who was a key strategist and early backer of Ernst during her successful 2014 Senate campaign, told Fox News that ‘Joni Ernst is doing what the Constitution says what her job is, which is advise and consent.’

‘I think that everybody should just give her the space to do her job, and making threats to a combat veteran usually doesn’t work out great,’ Kochel said.

Trump has praised Hegseth in the past few days.

‘Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News,’ the president-elect wrote on Friday.

But Fox News and other news organizations have reported that Trump is potentially considering nominating DeSantis as defense secretary as a possible replacement should Hegseth’s nomination falter.

Ernst’s name has also come up as a possible replacement.

But the senator said last week in an interview with RealClearPolitics that ‘I am not seeking to be secretary of defense.’

Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Tyler Olson and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, praised women in the military as some of the ‘greatest warriors’ after critics took issue with comments he made about women not being fit to serve in combat roles. 

‘I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don’t support women in the military, some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women,’ he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. 

Female service members ‘love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe. I’m not presuming anything,’ he added. 

‘But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military.’

Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to court the 50 votes he needs to secure the Cabinet level position. 

In a November 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired mere days before Hegseth, a former Fox News employee, was tapped to serve as Defense Secretary, the nominee said: ‘I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.’

Hegseth asserted that women serving in combat roles ‘hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal’ and ‘has made fighting more complicated.’

Hegseth noted that he was not necessarily advocating for making the change right now, commenting; ‘Imagine the demagoguery in Washington, D.C., if you were actually making the case for, you know, ‘We should scale back women in combat.’’

‘As the disclaimer for everybody out there,’ he added, ‘we’ve all served with women and they’re great, it’s just our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where … over human history, men are more capable.’

He said, ‘I love women service members who contribute amazingly,’ but asserted that ‘everything about women serving together makes the situation more complicated and complication in combat means casualties are worse.’

He also criticized the upper echelons of military leadership for changing standards and prioritizing filling diversity quotas above combat effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 study by the Marine Corps that found that integrated male-female units did ‘drastically worse’ in terms of combat effectiveness than all-male units.

‘Between bone density and lung capacity and muscle strength, men and women are just different,’ he said. ‘So, I’m ok with if you maintain the standards just where they are for everybody, and if there’s some, you know, hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion. But that is not what’s happened. What has happened is the standards have lowered.’

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, celebrated that he had a ‘great meeting’ with Sen. Joni Ernst after the Iowa Republican slow-walked an endorsement of the Cabinet nominee. 

‘It was a great meeting. People don’t really know this. I’ve known Sen. Ernst for over 10 years. I knew her when she was a state senator running to be the first female combat veteran,’ Hegseth told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview Monday evening. ‘And we supported her in that effort, and have continued to.’

‘You get into these meetings and you to listen to senators –  it’s an amazing advise and consent process — and you hear how thoughtful, serious, substantive they are on these key issues that pertain to our Defense Department,’ he continued. ‘And Joni Ernst is front and center on that. So to able to have phone calls and meetings time and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important. The fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot.’

Hegseth has been spending his days on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican senators to rally support as he battles allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and mismanaging a veterans nonprofit organization. Hegseth has denied the allegations and vowed that he won’t drink ‘a drop of alcohol’ if confirmed to Trump’s cabinet.

Among Hegseth’s meetings on Monday, he again met with Ernst, who sits on the ​​Senate Armed Services Committee, after meeting with her last week. 

Last week, Ernst withheld committing to voting in favor of Hegseth, but hinted Monday that she is beginning to support the Trump nominee. 

Ernst wrote in a statement Monday that ‘as I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.’

She added in her statement that ‘following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women – based on quality and standards, not quotas – and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.’

​​Trump nominated Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, as secretary of defense last month, saying ‘with Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.’ Hegseth was a host on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ before Trump’s nomination. 

Fox News Digital reported Sunday, following Ernst’s initial hesitation to support Hegseth, that Trump’s allies were expected to ramp up criticisms against her as she stalls on offering support to Trump’s secretary of defense pick.

‘It’s really this simple: If you oppose President Trump’s nominees, you oppose the Trump agenda and there will be a political price to pay for that. We are well aware that there are certain establishment Senators trying to tank the President’s nominees to make him look weak and damage him politically, and we’re just not going to allow that to happen,’ a top Trump ally told Fox News Digital. 

Hegseth continued in his interview with Hannity that he will also meet with Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who Hannity identified as a pair of more liberal Republican senators compared to their colleagues. 

‘We will be meeting with Sen. Collins on Wednesday and Sen. Murkowski on Tuesday. And let me tell you, Sean, the founders got this right. This is not a trivial process. This is a real thing: advise and consent of a nominee who the president has chosen. And I’m so grateful that President Trump would have the faith in me to lead the Defense Department, to choose me to do that. But this advise and consent process, meeting with all the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they all have great questions, and my answers are for them,’ Hegseth said. 

The SecDef nominee also pushed back on claims of impropriety during the interview, arguing ‘the left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media –  show trial –  and we’re not going to let that happen.’

‘I’m going to walk into the door of every one of these senators with just, as an open book, willing to answer their questions, because they deserve answers. … I’ve heard great things about all of these senators and the questions they want to ask, and we look forward to earning these votes. That’s what it’s about, ultimately earning the votes through the committee and through the entire U.S. Senate,’ he said. 

Reports surfaced last week alleging Trump had lost faith in his nominee as Democrats slammed the choice and some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, remarked the allegations against Hegseth were ‘disturbing.’ Trump bucked the claims when he doubled down on his support of Hegseth in a Truth Social post on Friday, while Vice President-elect JD Vance also said the Trump team is ‘​​not abandoning this nomination.’

​​’Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. ‘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!!!’

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Cawthorne and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.