President Donald Trump has responded after late-night drama in the Senate involving former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as secretary of defense.

Three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — voted with all 47 Democrats to reject Hegseth, forcing Vice President JD Vance, as president of the Senate, to cast the tie-breaking vote for confirmation.

“I’m honored to have Pete. I think Pete’s gonna be a great Secretary of Defense and we’re honored to have him,” Trump said as he prepared to board Air Force One in Los Angeles following a whirlwind day where he visited storm-ravaged North Carolina and saw the devastation left behind by wildfires in the country’s second-largest city.

A reporter asked Trump what he thought about McConnell’s “no” vote, but he said he didn’t know how McConnell had voted until just then. “Winning is what matters, right?” Trump went on to say.

Despite the three defections, the vast majority of Republican senators praised Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer with multiple combat tours, as a “change agent” who has a “passion for the warfighter.”

“Pete has served in the Army National Guard as a front line officer, and he has a keen intellect and a passion for the warfighter,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., himself a retired Air Force JAG officer, wrote on the social media platform X.

“He did an excellent job during a very contentious hearing and withstood all the attacks that came his way,” Graham added. “He is bullish on creating a larger, more lethal military and is clear-eyed about America’s enemies, including Iran. Israel will have no better friend than Pete Hegseth.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he was “proud to vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.” He added: “He is the change agent that the DOD desperately needs.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma added, “We did it, America.”