“Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are compiling a list of military officers to be fired. Perhaps it will include members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which could be an unprecedented upheaval in the Pentagon.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are compiling a list of military officers to be fired. Perhaps it will include members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which could be an unprecedented upheaval in the Pentagon.
Source: Reuters with reference to two informants
Details: As the publication notes, the planning of layoffs is at an early stage and may change as the Trump administration takes shape.
One of the sources questioned the expediency of massive changes in the Pentagon.
It was also unclear whether Trump himself would support the plan, although he has been vocal in the past against defense department leaders who have criticized it. During the election campaign, Trump also talked about firing generals and those responsible for the questionable withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
A second source said the new administration is likely to focus on US officers believed to be linked to Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Milley was quoted in Bob Woodward’s book War, published last month, calling Trump a “fascist to the bone” and Trump allies targeting him for alleged disloyalty to the former president.
“Every single person Millie has promoted and appointed will be leaving,” the source said. – “There is a very detailed list of everyone who was associated with Millie. And they will all go.”
The Joint Chiefs of Staff include the highest-ranking officers of the US military, who head the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, National Guard, and Space Force.
Some current and former U.S. officials have played down the possibility of such a major reshuffle, saying it would be unnecessary and disruptive at a time of global upheaval, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The first source said it would be bureaucratically difficult to fire and replace a significant portion of the top US military leadership, and suggested it could be bragging rights and posturing on the part of Trump’s allies.
But a second source suggested that the Trump camp believes the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be cut because of red tape.
According to the source, such cuts can be sustained in an organization the size of the US armed forces.
Prehistory:
- On November 12, Trump picked Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and veteran who has shown a willingness to clean up the Pentagon, to be Secretary of Defense.
- “The next president of the United States must fundamentally change the senior management of the Pentagon so that we are ready to defend our country and defeat our enemies. Many people must be freed,” Haggett wrote in his book “War on Warriors: The Betrayal of the People Who Make Us Free” “.