Trump administration fires top US general and Navy chief in unprecedented purge of military leadership
In an unprecedented purge of the military’s senior leadership Friday night, President Donald Trump fired the top US general just moments before his defense secretary fired the chief of the US Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force.
Trump announced he was dismissing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown and replacing him with Air Force Lt. Gen. John Dan “Razin” Caine – an extraordinary move since Caine is retired, according to an Air Force official, and is not a four-star general.
Trump called Brown a “fine gentleman” and an “outstanding leader,” while hinting at the firings to come. “Finally, I have also directed Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Minutes later, Hegseth released a statement announcing he’d fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the chief of the Navy.
The removal of the second Black man to serve as America’s most senior general and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff appears to send a strong signal from an administration that has outlawed diversity and inclusion efforts across the military and wider government.
Hegseth called Franchetti a “DEI hire” in his 2024 book, in which he wrote: “If naval operations suffer, at least we can hold our heads high. Because at least we have another first! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — hooray.”
Hegseth on Friday also said that Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force, had been fired, and that he was “requesting nominations” for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force, indicating they will be replaced.
“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,” Hegseth said Friday night.
The firings had been anticipated for weeks, with rumors about the impending dismissal circulating around the Pentagon. But speculation about the termination of Brown and others became more serious when a formal list was recently shared with some Republican lawmakers.
Trump has railed against what he called “woke” generals and officers, and Brown was a frequent target of right-wing criticism. Many officials in the Pentagon openly wondered whether Brown would be fired quickly after Trump’s inauguration.
Brown was informed of the decision to remove him in a phone call from Hegseth Friday, a US defense official said.
Federal law requires the president to pick the top military officers from the combatant commands or the chiefs of the military services, all of which are 4-star positions. But the law also allows the President to waive the requirement if “such action is necessary in the national interest.”
On Friday, Trump said Caine was a “warfighter” who was “instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate.”
The JAGs are the military’s top lawyers who administer the military code of justice, including defending and prosecuting US service members in military court.
Hegseth has previously railed against the military’s Judge Advocates General (JAG), calling them “jagoffs” in his book. When pressed during his recent confirmation hearing to explain himself, Hegseth said, “It would be a JAG Officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters – their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those who are making the tough calls on the front line.”
Don Christensen, a retired military judge who served as the Air Force’s chief prosecutor said the move to replace the JAGs is “extremely concerning.”
“They serve as a conscience of the military and a moral guide as to what’s right and wrong,” and the move makes it appear the administration “want more compliant people in those positions.”
In his first term, Trump controversially intervened in the military’s legal processes, issuing controversial pardons in high-profile war crimes cases against the advice of Pentagon leaders. CNN reported at the time that then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Trump that his actions could damage the integrity of the military’s justice system.
Trump announced Brown’s firing on the day he visited the southwest border, one of the Pentagon’s top priorities under the new administration. Brown met with the Joint Task Force North, which leads the military’s border mission.
“Border Security has always been critical to the defense of our homeland,” Brown posted on social media shortly before he was fired.
A prominent retired four-star general expressed serious dismay over Brown’s ousting, saying it was “sadly political and tragic for our nation.”
Trump and Brown had been pictured next to each other at the Army-Navy football game in December. In his first term, Trump appointed Brown to the Chief of the Air Force, a position he held until former President Joe Biden nominated him to be the Joint Chiefs Chair in October 2023. Brown’s term was scheduled to end in 2027.
Hegseth had also called for Brown’s termination, saying just days before Trump picked him to lead the Pentagon: “First of all, you’ve got to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.”
But the two had routinely met and worked together since Hegseth’s confirmation.
Trump has raved about Caine for years.
At the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, the president said he met Caine during a visit to Iraq. Caine was then serving as the deputy command for US Special Operations in the Middle East and Operation Inherent Resolve, the ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS.
Caine, Trump said at the time, came from “central casting” and could have the campaign to eliminate ISIS “totally finished in one week.” Trump says Caine told him, “They won’t know what the hell hit them, sir.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, sidelining a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
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.
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“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,” Trump posted on social media.
Brown’s public support of Black Lives Matter after the police killing of George Floyd had made him fodder for the administration’s wars against “wokeism” in the military. His ouster is the latest upheaval at the Pentagon, which plans to cut 5,400 civilian probationary workers starting next week and identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year to redirect those savings to fund Trump’s priorities.
Trump said he’s nominating retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman. Caine is a career F-16 pilot who served on active duty and in the National Guard, and was most recently the associate director for military affairs at the CIA, according to his military biography.
Caine’s military service includes combat roles in Iraq, special operations postings and positions inside some of the Pentagon’s most classified special access programs.
However, he has not had key assignments identified in law as prerequisites for the job, including serving as either the vice chairman, as a combatant commander or a service chief. That requirement could be waived if the “president determines such action is necessary in the national interest.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement praising both Caine and Brown, announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife.
Franchetti becomes the second top female military officer to be fired by the Trump administration. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan just a day after he was sworn in.
A surface warfare officer, Franchetti has commanded at all levels, heading U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea. She was the second woman ever to be promoted to four-star admiral, and she did multiple deployments, including as commander of a naval destroyer and two stints as aircraft carrier strike group commander.
Slife led Air Force Special Operations Command prior to becoming the service’s vice chief of staff and had deployed to the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Trump has asserted his executive authority in a much stronger way in his second term, removing most officials from the Biden administration even though many of those positions are meant to carry over from one administration to the next.
The chairman role was established in 1949 as an adviser to the president and secretary of defense, as a way to filter all of the views of the service chiefs and more readily provide that information to the White House without the president having to reach out to each individual military branch, according to an Atlantic Council briefing written by retired Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro. The role has no actual command authority.
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.
Sen. Roger Wicker, GOP chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, didn’t mention Caine’s name in a statement Friday.
“I thank Chairman Brown for his decades of honorable service to our nation,” Wicker said. “I am confident Secretary Hegseth and President Trump will select a qualified and capable successor for the critical position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Brown’s future was called into question during the confirmation hearing for Hegseth last month. Asked if he would fire Brown, Hegseth responded, “Every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy, standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given.”
Hegseth had previously taken aim at Brown. “First of all, you gotta fire, you know, you gotta fire the chairman of Joint Chiefs,” he said flatly in a podcast in November. And in one of his books, he questioned whether Brown got the job because he was Black.
“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt — which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” Hegseth wrote.
As he walked into the Pentagon on his first day as defense chief on Jan. 27, Hegseth was asked directly if he planned to fire Brown.
“I’m standing with him right now,” said Hegseth, patting Brown on the back. “Look forward to working with him.”
Brown, who spent Friday visiting troops at the U.S.-Mexico border, drew attention to himself for speaking out about the death of George Floyd in 2020. While he knew it was risky, he said, discussions with his wife and sons about the killing convinced him he needed to say something.
As protests roiled the nation, Brown posted a video message to the Air Force titled, “Here’s What I’m Thinking About.” He described the pressures that came with being one of the few Black men in his unit. He recalled pushing himself “to perform error-free” as a pilot and officer his whole life, but still facing bias. He said he’d been questioned about his credentials, even when he wore the same flight suit and wings as every other pilot.
Brown’s path to the chairmanship was troubled — he was among the more than 260 senior military officers whose nominations were stalled for months by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. But when the Senate vote was finally taken in September 2023, Brown easily was confirmed by a vote of 89-8.
It had been 30 years since Colin Powell became the first Black chairman, serving from 1989 to 1993. But while African Americans made up 17.2% of the 1.3 million active-duty service members, only 9% of officers were Black, according to a 2021 Defense Department report.
Brown’s service as chairman made history in that this was the first time that both the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Joint Chiefs chairman were Black.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Statement on General Officer Nominations
This evening the President announced that he intends to nominate Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine, USAF, for the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, and the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council.
General Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him.
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.
I am also requesting nominations for the positions of Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff. The incumbents in these important roles, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Slife, respectively, have had distinguished careers. We thank them for their service and dedication to our country.
We are also requesting nominations for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
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.
– Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
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