4 months ago
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(REUTERS) — President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed retired 5 different admirals and generals successful an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. subject leadership.
Trump said successful a station connected Truth Social that helium would nominate retired Lieutenant General Dan "Razin" Caine to win Brown. A erstwhile F-16 combatant pilot, Caine was the subordinate manager of subject affairs astatine the Central Intelligence Agency until precocious past year.
Trump volition besides regenerate the caput of the U.S. Navy, a presumption held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the archetypal pistillate to pb a subject service, arsenic good arsenic the aerial unit vice main of unit and justice advocates wide for the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Pentagon said.
Trump's determination sets disconnected a play of upheaval astatine the Pentagon, which was already bracing for wide firings of civilian staff, a melodramatic overhaul of its fund and a displacement successful subject deployments nether Trump's caller America First overseas policy.
While the Pentagon's civilian enactment changes from 1 medication to the next, the uniformed members of U.S. equipped forces are meant to beryllium apolitical, carrying retired the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations.
Brown, the 2nd Black serviceman to go the president's apical uniformed subject adviser, had been expected to implicit his full four-year word successful September 2027.
A U.S. authoritative said Brown was relieved with contiguous effect, adjacent earlier the Senate confirms his successor.
Reuters successful November was archetypal to study that the incoming Trump medication planned a sweeping shakeup of the apical brass, with firings including Brown.
'Woke' generals
During past year's statesmanlike campaign, Trump spoke of firing "woke" generals and those liable for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan. On Friday, the president did not explicate his determination to regenerate Brown.
"I privation to convey General Charles 'CQ' Brown for his implicit 40 years of work to our country, including arsenic our existent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is simply a good man and an outstanding leader, and I privation a large aboriginal for him and his family," Trump wrote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been skeptical of Brown earlier taking the helm of the Pentagon with a wide docket that includes eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives successful the military.
In his astir caller book, Hegseth asked whether Brown would person gotten the occupation if helium were not Black.
"Was it due to the fact that of his tegument color? Or his skill? We'll ne'er know, but ever uncertainty - which connected its look seems unfair to CQ. But since helium has made the contention paper 1 of his biggest calling cards, it doesn't truly overmuch matter," helium wrote successful his 2024 publication "The War connected Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free."
Brown, a erstwhile combatant aviator with bid acquisition successful the Middle East and Asia, recounted his experiences of favoritism successful the subject successful an affectional video posted online aft the 2020 sidesplitting of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests for radical justice.
Brown was connected authoritative question erstwhile Trump made the announcement. Hours earlier Trump's post, Brown's authoritative X relationship had posted images of him gathering troops connected the U.S. borderline with Mexico, deployed successful enactment of Trump's crackdown connected amerciable immigration.
"Border Security has ever been captious to the defence of our homeland. As we navigate unprecedented information challenges... we volition guarantee our troops astatine the borderline person everything they need," Brown posted.
A spokesperson for Brown did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.
Women leaders fired
Franchetti was the archetypal pistillate to bid the U.S. Navy.
Her 2023 information by then-President Joe Biden had been a surprise. Pentagon officials had wide expected the information to spell to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who astatine the clip led the navy successful the Pacific. Paparo was alternatively promoted to pb the U.S. military's Indo Pacific Command.
On his archetypal time successful office, Trump fired Admiral Linda Fagan arsenic caput of the U.S. Coast Guard. She had been its archetypal pistillate commanding officer.
Last month, Trump's Pentagon lashed retired Mark Milley, a retired Army wide and erstwhile president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by revoking his idiosyncratic information item and information clearance. It besides removed his representation from the walls of the Pentagon.
Milley, who served arsenic the apical U.S. subject serviceman during immoderate of Trump's archetypal statesmanlike term, became a starring professional of him aft retiring arsenic a four-star wide successful 2023 during Biden's medication and has faced decease threats.
Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler and William Mallard
