Trump fires top US general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday he had dismissed General CQ Brown Jr as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signalling plans for a broader overhaul of military leadership.

Trump said he would replace Brown with retired Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine, describing him as a military leader who had been “passed over for promotion” by the Biden administration.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement following Brown’s dismissal, called the outgoing chairman a “thoughtful adviser” whilst emphasising new leadership would focus on “deterring, fighting and winning wars”.

The shake-up extends beyond Brown’s position, with Trump announcing plans to replace five other senior military posts, including the Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff roles currently held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Slife respectively.

Caine, Trump’s choice for chairman, previously served as associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency and played a key role in Washington’s air defence during the September 11 attacks. He recently joined venture capital firm Shield Capital as a partner.

However, Caine’s appointment could face scrutiny as his service record does not include specific assignments typically required by the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act for the chairman’s position, though the law allows presidential exemptions if deemed in the national interest.

The announcement follows Hegseth’s earlier statements about removing military leaders involved in diversity initiatives. During a November podcast interview, he had said: “Any general that was involved… in any of that DEI woke shit has got to go.”

Brown, the second Black officer to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman, had been praised for breaking racial barriers in the military. Trump had previously celebrated Brown’s 2020 confirmation as Air Force chief of staff, noting his appointment as “the USA’s first-ever African American military service chief”.

(With information from Reuters and The Guardian)