President Donald Trump has called on Republicans in Congress to “stand up for” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was hit with articles of impeachment Monday over his prosecution of the Iran war.

Rebel Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie accused Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanors” in waging the war despite there being “no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat” and of carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean by bombing alleged drug boats.

Massie’s impeachment resolution started the clock on a two-day deadline for a vote to take place in the House of Representatives. Should it come to pass – rather than be referred to the House Judiciary Committee – and ultimately prevail, the matter would proceed to the Senate for a trial.

Republicans hold majorities in both chambers until January when they come under Democratic control but many have admitted that the unpopular war and its consequences cost their party at last week’s midterms elections and may be tempted to hold the secretary accountable.

Responding angrily to Monday’s developments on Truth Social, the president wrote: “Defeated Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a total loser, is trying to Impeach perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.

“With recruitment at an ALL-TIME HIGH, from an all-time low under Sleepy Joe Biden, and TWO VICTORIES, Venezuela and Iran, Pete Hegseth should be praised, not Impeached. Congress, stand up for Pete!!!”

Hegseth subsequently delivered an impassioned press conference at the Pentagon Tuesday Morning, in which he called Massie a “disgruntled and defeated congressman,” who was engaging in “a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.”

“It’s a farce, and it’s a stunt, and everybody knows it,” he said of the impeachment push, insisting that no defense secretary “has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations.”

Hegseth claimed Massie’s resolution was intended to target Trump at one remove and said of the president’s political enemies: “They will fail again.”

“Let’s be clear about what this resolution actually does,” he said. “It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching, that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership.”

He insisted the war had been necessary to prevent “crazy Islamists” acquiring a nuclear weapon, that the removal of Nicolas Maduro meant he had been “brought to justice” and said he would do it all again if he had the chance.

Before those two interventions, Trump had made a surprise appearance in the White House’s James S Brady Briefing Room Monday, alongside UFC impresario Dana White, whom he had “jokingly” offered the vacant post of press secretary.

During their joint appearance, the president told the press corps that Massie is a “stone-cold loser” and insisted Hegseth is “winning the war,” which is now dragging on into its ninth month with no peace deal in sight.

“He’s certainly winning the war,” Trump said of his secretary. “Iran would love to make a deal, and they’ve been obliterated.”

For his part, Massie appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins late Monday and was dismissive of Trump’s attacks on him, saying it was “not a popularity contest” and that he did not dispute the president’s contention that Hegseth had been “effective” at his job.

“In some aspect, he has been effective,” Massie said. “And that’s what we’re impeaching him for, his effectiveness in breaking the law and violating the Constitution.”

The congressman said he did not believe Hegseth would make it to the end of the year without being forced out or resigning and warned him that the Democrat-led Congress coming in January would not be as “polite” as he had been.

Before Massie played his hand Monday, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries had said he was a “hard yes” on impeaching Hegseth, signaling that he expected his party to follow suit.

Opposing Massie’s resolution in the chamber, outgoing Republican speaker Mike Johnson argued against it by saying: “Impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that.

“We don’t impeach Cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is and I think everybody knows it.”

However, two unnamed former Trump administration officials subsequently told The Washington Post there “appears to be little appetite for spending significant political capital on a protracted defense of Hegseth” within the White House, where Stephen Miller has just succeeded Susie Wiles as Trump’s chief of staff.

Another insider told the newspaper that Miller will be focused on the president’s agenda, not defending individuals.

“Miller knows the Senate very well, and unlike Pete, he knows where the limits are,” they said. “He knows that they need to get stuff done, and as chief of staff, this isn’t the hill they want to die on.”