Trump administration fires top US general and Navy chief in unprecedented purge of military leadership

(CNN)- 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.”

Move to replace JAGs ‘extremely concerning’

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.

Hegseth had called for Brown’s termination

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.”