Pete Hegseth could hardly be more suited to be Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense — even though he’d surely be deemed unqualified by any conventional president.

President-elect Donald Trump has stood behind Pete Hegseth, his controversial nominee for Secretary of Defense.

Hegseth responded at the heated Senate confirmation hearing that he couldn’t tell Duckworth the exact number of ASEAN nations, but that “I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan in AUKUS (a pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) with Australia.”

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who had been seen as a key Republican skeptic of Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department, said she will support him after his performance at Tuesday's confirmation hearing.