Members of President-elect, Donald Trump’s transition team, are drawing up a list of military officers to be fired, potentially including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two sources said.
This would be an unprecedented shakeup at the Pentagon.
The planning for the firings is at an early stage after Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory and could change as Trump’s administration takes shape.
Sources, who are familiar with the Trump transition and requested anonymity to speak candidly about the plans, said.
One of the sources questioned the feasibility of a mass firing at the Pentagon.
It was also unclear if Trump himself would endorse the plan, although in the past he has railed extensively against defence leaders who have criticized him.
Trump has also spoken during the campaign of firing “woke” generals and those responsible for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The second source said the incoming administration would likely focus on U.S. military officers seen as connected to Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Milley was quoted in the book “War” by Bob Woodward, which was published last month, calling Trump “fascist to the core”.
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Trump’s allies have targeted him for perceived disloyalty to the former president.
“Every single person that Milley elevated and appointed will go,” the second source said.
“There’s a very detailed list of everybody affiliated with Milley. And they will all go.”
The Joint Chiefs of Staff include the highest-ranking officers in the U.S. military. They comprise the heads of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force.
The disclosure of plans to fire senior leaders of the U.S. armed forces comes a day after Trump picked as his Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator.
“The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies.
“Lots of people need to be fired,” Hegseth said in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free”.
It is unclear if Hegseth’s lack of management experience could complicate his Senate confirmation.
And if a more traditional alternative for the position would carry out such sweeping dismissals. (Reuters)
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