US President Donald Trump said he has no intention of firing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and said he is doing “a very good job.” “No, I think he’s doing a very good job”, Trump said in response to a question from reporters alongside construction workers at the site of the White House’s new ballroom.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told CBS News that the president has “full confidence” in Hegseth, after the network reported, citing sources, that Trump was discussing the dismissal with advisers. Asked about the possibility of Hegseth filling the Tennessee Senate seat that Marsha Blackburn will leave to take over the governor’s office, Trump said he would be “very popular” if he did that, but that he “hasn’t heard that at all”.