Trump administration fires top US general and Navy chief in unprecedented purge of military leadership
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown Jr. listens to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth answer reporters' questions before a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Pentagon during an honor cordon on February 5, in Arlington, Virginia.
CNN —
In an unprecedented purge of the military's senior leadership Friday night, President Donald Trump fired the top US general just moments before his defense secretary fired the chief of the US Navy and others.
In announcing the dismissal, Trump called Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Q. Brown a 'fine gentleman' and an 'outstanding leader.' Brown is only the second Black man to serve as chairman and was the first Black service chief in US military history when he was confirmed as chief of the Air Force in 2020.
The president hinted at the firings to come in the announcement on his Truth Social platform. 'Finally, I have also directed [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon,' he wrote.
Minutes later, Hegseth released a statement in which he fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the chief of the Navy and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In his 2024 book titled 'The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,' Hegseth called Franchetti a 'DEI hire.'
'If naval operations suffer, at least we can hold our heads high. Because at least we have another first! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — hooray,' he wrote.
Hegseth also said that Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force, had been fired, and that he was 'requesting nominations' for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force, indicating they will be replaced.
'Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,' Hegseth said Friday night.
Hegseth has previously railed against the military's Judge Advocates General (JAG), calling them 'jagoffs' in his book. When pressed during his recent confirmation hearing to explain himself, Hegseth said, 'It would be a JAG Officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters – their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those who are making the tough calls on the front line.'
The JAGs are the military's top lawyers who administer the military code of justice, including defending and prosecuting US service members in military court.
The firings had been anticipated for weeks, with rumors about the impending dismissal circulating around the Pentagon. But speculation about the termination of Brown and others became more serious when a formal list was recently shared with some Republican lawmakers.
Trump has railed against what he called 'woke' generals and officers, and Brown was a frequent target of right-wing criticism. Many officials in the Pentagon openly wondered whether Brown would be fired quickly after Trump's inauguration.
But Trump and Brown were pictured next to each other at the Army-Navy football game in December, signaling a potential warming of relations between the two men. In his first term, Trump appointed Brown to the Chief of the Air Force, a position he held until former President Joe Biden nominated him to be the Joint Chiefs Chair in October 2023. Brown's term was scheduled to end in 2027.
Hegseth had also called for Brown's termination. In November, just days before Trump picked Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, Hegseth said, 'First of all, you've got to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.'
But the two routinely met and worked together since Hegseth's confirmation.
Trump announced the firing of the top US general on the day Brown visited the southwest border, one of the Pentagon's top priorities under the new administration. Brown met with the Joint Task Force North, which leads the military's border mission.
'Border Security has always been critical to the defense of our homeland,' Brown posted on social media in the hours before he was fired.
On social media, Trump said he would nominate Air Force Lt. Gen. John Dan 'Razin' Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an extraordinary move since Caine is retired, according to an Air Force official, and is not a 4-star general.
Trump said Caine was a 'warfighter' who was 'instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate.'
Federal law requires the president to pick the top military officers from the combatant commands or the chiefs of the military services, all of which are 4-star positions. But the law also allows the President to waive the requirement if 'such action is necessary in the national interest.'
Trump has raved about Caine for years, dating back to his first term. At the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said he met Caine during a visit to Iraq. Caine was then serving as the deputy command for US Special Operations in the Middle East and Operation Inherent Resolve, the ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS.
Trump said Caine came from 'central casting' and said he could have the campaign to eliminate ISIS 'totally finished in one week.' Trump says Caine told him, 'They won't know what the hell hit them, sir.'
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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