Pressure to impeach Pete Hegseth intensifies after US midterm elections

Also in today's newsletter, FBI is 'looking into' Nvidia's Jensen Huang after alleged spy scandal

Hello and welcome to White House Watch, as the impact of big Democratic victories in the midterm elections continues to reverberate across the US.

Let's get into:

* Pete Hegseth's impeachment problem

* Middle East leaders try to stop relaunch of Iran war

* Can Jensen Huang survive as Nvidia's chief?

Pete Hegseth is desperately trying to cling to his job as US defence secretary ahead of a possible impeachment vote in the House of Representatives and a broader backlash to his Pentagon leadership after the midterm elections.

Yesterday, Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who has been a thorn in President Donald Trump's side for months, introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth for his handling of the Iran war, in particular for launching the military operations without congressional authorisation.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has been one of the most dogged survivors of Trump's second term. He overcame the outrage over the leaked Houthi attack Signal chat group and the backlash to his firing of a significant number of senior military officers, including generals and admirals, who were judged to be insufficiently aligned with the Trump administration.

But this moment is the most threatening to Hegseth. Some Republicans have even turned on him as they blame the extended Iranian conflict for the bruising defeats suffered by the party in the midterm elections.

Hegseth would only be removed from office if an impeachment vote passed in the House and he was then convicted in a Senate trial, which would be most likely to occur when the new Congress controlled by Democrats takes office in January.

If his position becomes increasingly untenable, he may decide to resign or Trump could choose to fire him.

"We are very proud of the president's America First agenda, of our 'peace through strength' posture. We know the world is a better and safer place as a result," Hegseth said on Monday as he put a brave face on the possible impeachment.

"If we want to litigate that, the success of those things, I'm happy to do it all day long," he added.

Hegseth is said to have one powerful defender at the White House in Trump's new chief of staff, Stephen Miller, while Susie Wiles, who resigned last week from that role, was known to be more sceptical of the defence secretary.

Possible names for Hegseth's replacement include Joni Ernst, the outgoing Iowa senator; Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida who was backed for the role by Massie on Monday; and Dan Sullivan, the Republican senator in Alaska who could lose his seat as he trails Democrat Mary Peltola following last week's elections.

Trump on Monday doubled down in Hegseth's defence, attacking Massie for being a "loser" and crediting Hegseth for having won military conflicts in both Venezuela and Iran this year.

"What has Hegseth done?" Trump asked reporters. "He won the war in two places -- two big places, very important, very impactful."

The latest headlines

* US inflation eased less than expected in October, with prices rising 0.4 per cent versus the previous month, according to truncated official data whose scope was limited by last year's government shutdown.

* The US has evacuated military aircraft from a second British air base following an Iran-linked threat, according to people familiar with the matter.

* Negotiators from the US, Ukraine and Russia will gather today in Abu Dhabi for their first trilateral talks since February. It comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian strikes were aiming to cut Ukraine in half.

* Middle Eastern leaders are pushing to stop Trump from reigniting the Iran war as the president hailed "positive momentum" towards ending the conflict. The developments allowed oil prices to slump to a 10-week low on Monday.

* Trump's Board of Peace has warned that days of seasonal flooding in Gaza have created an "immediate humanitarian emergency".

* The crypto industry is bracing for a reckoning as Democrats vow to investigate the Trump family and its ties to the industry.

What we're hearing

Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of US chipmaker Nvidia, has been engulfed in a scandal of his own making since admitting that he had an extramarital affair with a woman who was allegedly a Chinese spy, according to US officials.

The Nvidia board launched a probe after the romantic relationship was revealed by the FT's Demetri Sevastopulo. The question now is whether Huang, who has been one of Silicon Valley's most influential interlocutors with the White House, can survive in his job.

"Jensen is irreplaceable for America's AI leadership," said Shaun Maguire, a partner at early Nvidia investor Sequoia Capital, in a social media post.

Huang, who has cultivated an air of infallibility inside Nvidia, has given no indication he will step down as chief. Recent biographies of Huang and Nvidia, including Tae Kim's The Nvidia Way and Stephen Witt's The Thinking Machine, portray him as having a rare combination of technical depth and forward-thinking leadership.

The board's public statement on Sunday said it had "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team" and that it had "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised".

However, a fund manager with a large Nvidia position said that "if information was compromised, the implications are a lot bigger than if it was just an affair, which obviously isn't welcome news", according to the FT's Michael Acton and Tim Bradshaw.

Donald Trump on Monday defended Huang but also said the FBI was "looking into" him.

The president said he believed Huang was "suffering greatly" but that "he'll be in good shape". Asked if he would discuss the matter with Xi Jinping when he meets the Chinese president later this month, Trump said: "No, I don't think so".

Viewpoints

* Trump has signalled he will dig in deeper after losing the midterms, argues Edward Luce.

* Reality often trounces powerful leaders' hopes that they can win short wars, from Ukraine to Iran, says Gideon Rachman.

* Economist Glenn Hubbard calls for a new growth agenda for the US.

* Robert Kuttner explains how Democrats can use their congressional power over government finances to curb Trump.

* What do markets want from the Democrats? Mohamed El-Erian discusses four policy priorities for the party to safeguard growth and sustain investor confidence.