Donald Trump has fired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, a part of his plan to rid the military of so-called ‘woke generals.’
Brown, a retired Air Force general appointed by Joe Biden, was sacked Friday night as part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
Shortly after, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Silfe, the head of the Navy and vice chief of staff for the Air Force, respectively.
After his election victory, it was rumored that Trump wanted to create a ‘warrior board’ of retired ex-military personnel to weed out ‘woke generals’ deemed unfit for leadership.
Some believed a target of that initiative would be Brown, a widely respected former fighter pilot and military commander who steers clear of politics.
The four-star general, who is black, issued a video message about discrimination in the ranks in the days after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, and has been a voice in favor of diversity in the U.S. military.
Trump announced Brown’s departure – on seemingly friendly terms, in his words – in a post to social media on Friday night.
‘I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.’
Donald Trump has fired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, a part of his plan to rid the military of so-called ‘woke generals
After his election victory, it was rumored that Trump wanted to create a ‘warrior board’ of retired ex-military personnel to weed out ‘ woke generals’ deemed unfit for leadership
The ouster of Brown, only the second Black general to serve as chairman, is sure to send shock waves through the Pentagon. His 16 months in the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East.
Trump acted despite support for Brown among key members of Congress and a seemingly friendly meeting with him in mid-December, when the two were seated next to each other for a time at the Army-Navy football game.
Brown had been meeting regularly with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who took over the top Pentagon job just four weeks ago.
Vice Preisdent JD Vance, voted as a senator in 2023 against confirming Brown to become the top U.S. military officer, and has been a critic of perceived resistance to Trump’s orders within the Pentagon.
‘If the people in your own government aren’t obeying you, you have got to get rid of them and replace them with people who are responsive to what the president’s trying to do,’ Vance said in an interview with Tucker Carlson before the election.
Trump says he is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next chairman.
‘General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a “warfighter” with significant interagency and special operations experience,’ Trump said in the same social media post.
Trump praised Caine for helping him orchestrate ‘the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate’ during Trump’s first term.
Trump says he is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next chairman
He then turned his ire toward his predecessor, saying Caine should’ve gotten the job under the last presidency.
Trump wrote: ‘Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore!’
He said that Caine will work with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the military on Trump’s ‘peace through strength’ agenda.
Trump has also told Hegseth to seek applicants for five ‘high-level’ positions within the Cabinet.
Current and former U.S. officials say Trump will prioritize loyalty in his second term and root out military officers and career civil servants he perceives to be disloyal.
As commander in chief, Trump has the power to fire any officer at will.
Running for office, he was asked by Fox News in June whether he would fire generals described as ‘woke’.
‘I would fire them. You can’t have (a) woke military,’ Trump said.
The ouster of Brown, only the second Black general to serve as chairman, is sure to send shock waves through the Pentagon . His 16 months in the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East
Brown had been meeting regularly with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who took over the top Pentagon job just four weeks ago
During the campaign, Trump pledged to restore the name of a Confederate general to a major U.S. military base, reversing a change made after Floyd’s killing.
Trump’s strongest anti-woke messaging during the campaign took aim at transgender troops.
Trump has previously banned transgender service members and posted a campaign ad, opens new tab on X portraying them as weak, with the vow that ‘WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY!’
Kori Schake of the conservative American Enterprise Institute warned that a second Trump term could see high-level firings as he pushes ahead with controversial policies.
‘I think there will be an enormous chaos premium in a second Trump term, both because of the policies he will attempt to enact and the people he will put in place to enact them in terms of appointments,’ she said.
One U.S. military official downplayed such concerns, saying on condition of anonymity that creating chaos within the U.S. military’s chain of command would create political backlash and be unnecessary for Trump to accomplish his goals.
‘What these guys will find out is that military officers are generally focused on warfighting and not politics,’ the military official said. I feel they’ll be satisfied of that – or at least they should be.’
