-Trump's purge began with the removal of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the senior Navy officer, and the Vice Chief of the Air Force.
President Trump initiated a purging of the United States armed services' high echelons tonight, seemingly to intimidate the military and build an officer corps personally dedicated to him. The president removed General C.Q. Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a stunning step that Trump and his MAGA followers had hinted at.
Brown has faced criticism from certain Republican senators, as well as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who have both claimed that he is too "woke" and concerned with diversity in the military services. In his book The War on Warriors, Hegseth speculated that Brown, who is Black, may have ascended to his position due to racial considerations. "We'll never know," he wrote, using the usual just-asking-questions dodge.
But Trump ought to know. He is the president who nominated Brown to become Air Force Chief of Staff in 2020. (Biden appointed Brown as Chairman in 2023). Trump provided no explanation for the sacking, and Hegseth released a boilerplate statement praising Brown—who is just the second African American to occupy the position of Chairman, following the late Colin Powell—for his great service.
The chairman is the United States' most senior officer and, by law, the president's primary military adviser. He does not direct armed forces and is not part of the chain of command. The chairman typically serves a four-year term; the job, like that of FBI director, is intended to bridge between administrations rather than changing with each incoming president—specifically, to prevent the chairman (like the head of the FBI) from becoming a partisan political appointment.
Clearly, Trump rejects such traditions and believes that every senior official in the United States should be a personal appointee of the president—as long as that president is him. If US military officials have any doubts about the importance of unwavering commitment to Trump, they simply need to look at Brown's replacement. Instead of tapping another active four-star, Trump has sought out retired three-star Air Force commander Dan Caine, whom Trump today claimed was unfairly passed over for his fourth star by "Sleepy Joe Biden" despite being "highly qualified and respected."
Trump reportedly met Caine on a 2018 trip to Iraq. During remarks at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, the president recounted their first meeting. He said that Caine, also known as "Razin" Caine, was adamant that ISIS could be vanquished in a week if America committed enough troops to the cause. Trump stated that Caine then put on a MAGA cap and responded, "I love you, sir. Sir, I think you are fantastic. "Sir, I'll kill for you." Trump further stated that he informed Caine that he was not permitted to do so, "but they did it."
If the president is speaking the truth about this encounter, Caine should not be in his position. Senior officers are prohibited by law and military regulations from displaying partisan devotion, and such demonstrations should never be used to justify promotion. If true, the narrative provides a strong hint of Trump's political motivations; Caine's behavior, in any case, disqualifies him for the post. He looks to have had a successful career, and while bringing an officer out of retirement to serve as Chairman is unusual, it is not unheard of.
However, Trump, who appears to have been telling this story for years, is not selecting Caine because of his background; rather, he is elevating Caine in position and rank because he wants a Chairman who is entirely committed to him.
The message to the rest of the military couldn't be more obvious. Trump despised Brown's predecessor, General Mark Milley, and has suggested that Milley be hanged for his conduct as Chairman. (This thought occurred to him shortly after the publication of this magazine's feature of Milley by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, which recounted how Milley safeguarded the Constitution against Trump.)
Trump and Hegseth have declared plans to fire several additional top officers, including, perhaps most ominously, the head lawyers of each service. Now that Trump has taken over the intelligence services, the Justice Department, and the FBI, the military is the final piece he needs to lay the groundwork for authoritarian control of the United States government. None of this is about efficacy, "lethality," promoting "warfighters," or any other buzzword. It is praetorianism, plain and simple.
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