Trump reportedly asks private equity investor to be deputy defence secretary

Stephen Feinberg's company has links to defence contractors, raising questions of conflict of interest

Donald Trump has reportedly asked Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire private equity investor with extensive interests in the armaments industry, to be deputy defence secretary in his new administration.

The choice, which requires Senate approval, could see Feinberg, 64, take the number two role at the Pentagon, where he would report to Trump's designated defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, whose own nomination faces an uncertain path amid allegations of past sexual misconduct, drunkenness and financial mismanagement.