Before President Trump made his surprise announcement that Robert Wilkie would be his pick to run the government's second-largest agency, Trump consulted two of his key advisers on Veterans Affairs: Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter and Fox and Friends host Pete Hegseth.
Behind the scenes: A source familiar with their interactions said that before making his decision, Trump called Hegseth — an Iraq war veteran whom Trump had considered for VA Secretary — to ask his opinion of Wilkie.
Wilkie made another politically smart move that may have sealed the deal on his nomination, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Wilkie and VA Chief of Staff Peter O'Rourke recently flew to West Palm Beach to meet with Perlmutter.
When Axios shared this reporting with Veteran Affairs Press Secretary, Curt Cashour, he did not weigh in and referred us to the White House for comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Hegseth.
The backstory: Wilkie was already in good standing at the White House. Senior officials there have long thought highly of him, and some were advocating for Wilkie to replace Shulkin as VA Secretary before Trump made his shocking — and to many in the White House, misguided — decision to appoint the White House physician Ronny Jackson to the role.
