Following the purge at the Department of Justice, Education, Health, Treasury, National Archives, FBI, CIA, Office of Personnel Management, Homeland Security, the development aid agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Consumer Protection Bureau, among dozens and dozens of agencies, on Friday night the Trump administration targeted one of its main obsessions for years: the Army.
Just hours after taking office, Trump unceremoniously ousted Admiral Linda Fagan, commander of the Coast Guard, but had been waiting for the Senate to confirm his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Once the goal was achieved, the purge he promised and aspired to, as he believes the armed forces are 'contaminated' by progressivism and equality and diversity programs, as well as allies and 'moles' of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, is underway.
In an unprecedented purge of the military leadership, on Friday night, Trump fired the highest-ranking general in the United States just moments before his Secretary of Defense did the same with the head of the US Navy and the number two in the Air Force. In a tweet, Trump announced the departure of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, and his replacement by Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan "Razin" Caine, one of his most loyal followers. An extraordinary decision as Caine is retired (the first case since 1962), not a four-star general, and also does not meet the minimum requirements set by statutes. The legislation allows the president to bypass certain management experience in times of emergency, and that's what the president has done, pending Senate ratification.
The disdain for the highest-ranking military officer in the administration was evident. He was doomed and had not been privy to the decisions of the new administration, reflecting how the Trump of 2024 is very different from the one of eight years ago. And even four. In 2020, it was he who appointed General Brown as Chief of Staff of the Air Force, highlighting precisely the historical significance of appointing the "first African American military service chief in history." At that time, he defended on social media that the general was "a patriot and a great leader." Not anymore.
According to a New York Times profile, Caine impressed the president when they met in 2018 because he told him that ISIS could be defeated in a week, not in two years as other advisors estimated. Trump has recounted the story on different occasions, and although the details have changed, including that Caine was wearing a MAGA cap at the time, the conversation stuck in his memory. And he associates it with what he believes a military leader should be: aggressive, masculine, decisive. The lack of experience is a plus, in fact, because he would not be part of the bureaucracy he demonizes.
Unlike most dismissals, Trump had kind words for Brown, calling him "a gentleman" and an "exceptional leader" and wished him luck, but did not give the reasons for his dismissal. In the same message, the president anticipated new replacements for "five additional high-level positions, which will be announced soon," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Minutes later, Hegseth issued a statement announcing that he had dismissed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the top official of the Navy.
It's no surprise. Admiral Fagan was a woman, like Franchetti. And the Secretary of Defense does not believe they should be on the front lines of combat or in vital positions. Brown is African American, and months ago Hegseth, then a Fox presenter and author of a book about the Army, suggested that his appointment to the highest position in the hierarchy was not a matter of merit, but of his race. "Do you think Commander Brown will intuitively think about external threats and internal readiness? No way. He developed his generalship diligently following the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions," he said of Brown. "If naval operations suffer, at least we can hold our heads high. Because at least we have another scoop! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hooray!" he wrote in his book about the admiral leading the Navy.
In his statement, Hegseth also indicated that General James Slife, Deputy Director of the Air Force, had been relieved of his duties and that nominations for the positions of Army, Navy, and Air Force general counsels were being considered, indicating they will be replaced. "Under the Trump presidency, we are implementing new leadership that will focus our armed forces on their primary mission of deterring, fighting, and winning wars," Hegseth stated.
While the purge had been anticipated for months [presidents like to have high-ranking officials they trust, but generally the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs usually remains in place for at least a few more years when the government changes], what has raised alarms in the United States is the latter, the positions of chief legal advisors in the three branches. These are fundamental, technical positions but essential to ensure that all military decisions comply with the law and to manage the military justice code, including the defense and prosecution of US service members in military courts.
Hegseth openly despises them in his book. And Trump, in his first term, repeatedly interfered in their work by wanting to pardon soldiers convicted of war crimes. His Secretary of Defense at the time put up some obstacles, but Hegseth not only fully agrees but was one of the instigators who inspired those decisions. When his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, who ended up being one of his most hated enemies, emphasized the importance of ethics and laws for combat troops, Trump responded that he didn't understand "why it's such a big deal," as Milley explained in an interview with The Atlantic a few months ago. "They're all killers," Trump said, according to Milley. "What's the difference?".
For reasons like that, Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado and a former Army Ranger, wrote in X that "the purge of senior officers in [the Department of Defense] is deeply concerning, but the purge of JAG officers is what scares me the most." Those lawyers, he stressed, interpret the law and determine the constitutionality of the actions taken by the commanders. And Trump wants loyalists.
Senator Jack Reed, the top-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, strongly criticized the decisions. "Firing uniformed leaders as a kind of political loyalty test, or for reasons related to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism our service members need to fulfill their missions," he said in a statement.