Admiral's promotion sunk amid criticism over years-old Navy drag show
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked a Navy admiral's recently approved promotion and command assignment amid criticism over drag shows held aboard his aircraft carrier in the last decade.
In mid-June, President Donald Trump nominated Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly, a F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot, for promotion to vice admiral and command of the Navy's strategically important 7th Fleet.
The fleet, headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan, oversees around 50 to 70 ships while running the Navy's operations in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans.
The U.S. Senate approved Donnelly's nomination via voice vote alongside those of four other top Navy officers on June 29, according to Congress.gov.
But Hegseth, according to a senior defense official, has since withdrawn Donnelly's nomination for promotion and command. On July 10, the Navy declined to comment on Donnelly's status and referred questions to Hegseth's office.
The official said Hegseth was thankful for Donnelly's service and wished him luck in his next position, adding the secretary was identifying a new nominee to head the 7th Fleet.
Hegseth's office declined to provide USA TODAY with the secretary's rationale for changing his mind about Donnelly. The admiral did not immediately return a request for comment left with his staff.
However, Donnelly came under fire from conservative influencers and media personalities because of drag show performances that occurred during his stint commanding the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier from 2016 to 2018.
"He was an otherwise qualified admiral who sanctioned Navy-sponsored drag shows (with cash prizes) on the air craft carrier he commanded," conservative defense analyst William Thibeau said on X.
Thibeau, who raised the drag show issue in 2023, argued the admiral "allowed a gross politicization of the military."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Pakistan "Playing With Fire" on Nuclear Threat, Says Former Indian Official
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A threat by the army chief of nuclear-armed Pakistan to "take half the world down" if the country faces a threat to its existence is reckless and dangerous, India's former deputy national security advisor told Newsweek. "I think it's one man's decision to engage in saber-rattling. And frankly, he doesn't sound like a victorious general — he sounds more like someone who is playing with fire and has some personal grievance or deep-seated problem with India," Pankaj Saran said in an interview. Why It Matters The comments show the heightened tension between India and Pakistan after their most intense clash in decades in May following a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir which India blamed on Pakistan despite its denials. What To Know Field Marshal Asim Munir spoke on Sunday at a gathering of the Pakistani community in Tampa, Florida, according to Pakistani news portal ARY News. He was quoted as saying "We are a nuclear nation; if we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," according to Indian ThePrint news site. Munir also threatened to destroy any dam India builds on the Indus River, on which India suspended a water-sharing treaty after the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Kashmir. Army jawans stand guard and security forces patrol near the encounter site in Lidwas Meadows of Dara, Srinagar district, India, on July 28, 2025. Army jawans stand guard and security forces patrol near the encounter site in Lidwas Meadows of Dara, Srinagar district, India, on July 28, 2025. Photo by BASIT ZARGAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images "Obviously, he feels emboldened enough to make these statements sitting in the United States... in a friendly country like the U.S. So how much license he thinks he can get, or is getting from the Americans, and how much tacit support there is, is a question mark that is being asked in India," Saran said. "This is unnecessary, unprovoked, and uncalled for. There is no real logical reason for all of this to be happening. It's important for the Americans to see through what he's doing, because if we continue down this path, it is not going to help American interests in the region or Indian interests," he said. India's Ministry of External Affairs described the comments as "nuclear blackmail." Pakistan's army and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saran's remarks. The Pakistani army chief's comments in the United States come at a moment of strain between Washington and New Delhi. On August 6, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on Indian imports over New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. This follows Trump's repeated claims that he personally brokered the May 2025 India–Pakistan ceasefire. India says it was a bilateral decision. What Happens Next The fact that Munir made the remarks in the United States, where he has been received twice in two months, is likely to further deepen the annoyance with Washington in India, the world's most populous nation. India is already strengthening its ties with China, long seen as a shared adversary with the United States, as well as with Russia.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
I'm glad Trump is focused on nonexistent DC crime wave, not his campaign promises
It's nice to finally have a president committed to sprucing up our nation's capital, which I have visited one time in my life and will likely never see again. As a Midwestern voter, I'm pleased as punch to see my president, Donald J. Trump, laser-focused on the two issues that concern me most: Things like food prices, wars, health care and manufacturing jobs can wait. It's nice to finally have a president committed to sprucing up our nation's capital, which I have visited once in my life and will likely never see again because I'm scared to travel to big cities. Trump swears he will stop DC's violent crime wave that doesn't exist On Aug. 11, President Trump will hold a press conference at the White House announcing his plan to 'essentially, stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.' As he wrote in a Truth Social post over the weekend: 'It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World. It will soon be one of the safest!!!' Oh, thank goodness. While data from the Washington, DC, police department shows violent crime down 26% compared to this time last year, I'm not one to trust numbers. I believe the president's claim that the capital is a rabid hellscape riddled with homeless encampments and presumably liberal graffiti, and I don't think the possibility of the federal government taking over the city is in any way an attempt to draw attention away from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Opinion: Trump smartly responds to brutal jobs report by firing the job numbers person I'm sure President Trump will release the Epstein files as soon as he's finished getting all the murderers out of Washington, DC, adding additional gold trim to various parts of the White House, and building a $200 million ballroom that's also covered in gold. I voted for Trump mainly because I wanted more gold in the White House When I voted for Trump, these were my priorities in order of importance: I'm sure the Epstein files are coming as soon as DC is crime-free I figured once those issues were all addressed, the president could move on to stuff like lowering grocery prices, making health care more affordable, ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and releasing the Epstein files. So to all the haters who keep claiming Trump hasn't come through on any of his promises, how about you shut up. He's slapping gold up in the White House quicker than you can say 'It looks like Mar-a-Lago threw up in here!' and now he's tackling problems in the capital that I'm told by him are problems. Opinion: Trump's mental decline is on vivid display as he rages about Epstein, windmills Grocery prices are still high, but Trump has to deal with DC first As Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend: 'I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again.' Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Personally, I'm 100% fine with my family rationing meat and not giving my children milk to drink if it means the 'tents, squalor, filth, and Crime' that I have not seen are eradicated from Washington, DC, a place I have no plans to ever visit. And my concerns about Trump's involvement with the world's most notorious sex trafficking case have been completely overridden by the thrill of seeing a White House slathered in excessive gold trim. Better health care and an end to wars can wait until the White House's grand new ballroom is up and President Trump proudly soars over it in his flying palace. This is exactly what I voted for, and I couldn't be happier. MAGA! Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
Kenya turns to AfDB, China Exim for $2b airport expansion after dropping Adani deal
Kenya has invited international development lenders to help finance a $2 billion expansion of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), just nine months after cancelling a deal with India's Adani Group following the indictment of its founder in the United States. Kenya plans a $2 billion expansion of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The country seeks funding from international development lenders and agencies. A securitised bond of $1.36 billion for road construction will be issued next month. Kenya has invited international development lenders to help finance a $2 billion expansion of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), just nine months after cancelling a deal with India's Adani Group following the indictment of its founder in the United States. Facing rising public debt and seeking alternative infrastructure financing options, the East African nation will also issue a securitised bond worth 175 billion shillings ($1.36 billion) next month for road construction, Transport Minister Davis Chirchir told reporters. Chirchir said the government had approached several development agencies, offering them the opportunity to finance the airport project by leveraging JKIA's balance sheet. Agencies contacted include the Japan International Cooperation Agency, China Exim Bank, KfW, the European Investment Bank, and the African Development Bank, according to Reuters. The planned expansion will include the construction of a second runway and a new terminal building. Once funding is secured, the government will then seek a contractor to execute the works. Instead of bringing in a concessionaire to build the airport, Kenya will construct it and consider concessioning it later, contrasting with the previous Adani deal, which would have given the group a 30-year operating lease after construction. Adani controversy That arrangement was abandoned last year after U.S. prosecutors charged Gautam Adani and several company executives with allegedly bribing officials to win Indian power contracts and misleading U.S. investors. President Ruto also ordered the termination of a $736 million, 30-year public-private partnership deal signed with an Adani Group subsidiary to build power transmission lines.
