The Trump 47 White House team continues to demonstrate its commitment to working diligently without leaving early for the weekend. The team has been active since Inauguration Day, and this trend persisted this week. On Friday, President Trump removed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the Biden administration and appointed a new chair.
My colleague Bob Hoge wrote:
In another significant move, Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. “CQ” Brown Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Friday. Brown Jr. was known for advocating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which contrasts with Trump’s agenda to eliminate these principles from the government. Trump has selected Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as Brown Jr.’s successor.
But that wasn’t the end of the announcements from the Trump administration about changes on their way for several branches of the U.S. military.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also weighed in later on Friday, providing insights into the plans for “new leadership.” He emphasized the president’s key mission objectives in his statement.
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.
He commented on both Gen. Brown’s departure from the JCoS post and Caine’s nomination to it:
The outgoing Chairman, Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, Jr., USAF, has served with distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service. I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country.
…
General Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him.
Hegseth then shared that he has also relieved the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, General James Slife, of their duties, describing their careers as “distinguished,” and thanking them for “their service” to America. The DefSec didn’t stop there.
Liberal town crier, CNN’s Kaitlin Collins alerted her handful of viewers to the “purge” that was underway, in an X post:
A major (and long rumored) purge is underway at the Pentagon tonight. After President Trump ousts the Joint Chiefs Chairman, Secretary Hegseth fires the chief of the Navy, the vice chief of the Air Force and says he’s “requesting nominations” for the Judge Advocates General for…
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 22, 2025
The post read:
A major (and long rumored) purge is underway at the Pentagon tonight. After President Trump ousts the Joint Chiefs Chairman, Secretary Hegseth fires the chief of the Navy, the vice chief of the Air Force and says he’s “requesting nominations” for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force, indicating they’ll be replaced. We’ll have the latest at 9 p.m. ET.
CNN hasn’t been a serious news outlet for years, of course, but the behavior by their anchors truly has reached new lows of late.
