More than a dozen senior generals and admirals have been fired since President Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, including the first women to lead the Navy and the Coast Guard, and the second African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Trump administration has offered few explanations, but speculation, informed and otherwise, has run the gamut from a straightforward downsizing of bloated leadership ranks to a more politically motivated purge of leaders seen as insufficiently loyal to the White House or those seen as diversity hires promoted under previous regimes.
The most recent high-level military officer sent packing was Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was fired Friday, only weeks after a classified DIA assessment of the U.S. strikes on Iran was leaked to the media.
It contradicted the Trump administration’s contention that Tehran’s nuclear program was demolished by the bombing mission. Defense Department officials said the DIA’s pessimistic report was based on limited intelligence gathered the day after the strike.
Sen. Mark R. Warner, a Virginia Democrat who serves as vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, blasted the decision to sack Gen. Kruse. He said the Trump administration has made a practice of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for the country.
“It is perhaps unsurprising that General Kruse’s removal as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of a DIA assessment that directly contradicted the president’s claims to have ’obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program,” Sen. Warner said in a statement. “That kind of honest, fact-based analysis is exactly what we should want from our intelligence agencies, regardless of whether it flatters the White House narrative.”
Gen. Kruse’s firing came days after Gen. David Allvin, the Air Force chief of staff, announced his decision to retire on Nov. 1, halfway into his traditional four-year term leading the Air Force. In a statement, Gen. Allvin said he would remain in the position until his replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
“I think these firings are unjustified and unnecessarily risky. Removing fully qualified officers who don’t meet some politically-driven narrative put forward by Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth is a mistake,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told The Washington Times. “With regards to Lt. Gen. Kruse, the last thing Secretary Hegseth needs are senior officers who are unwilling or uncomfortable telling him the facts as they know them, which is all Kruse did.”
Mr. Hegseth asked Gen. Allvin to retire early, saying he would be allowed to announce the move himself, according to a report in The Washington Post.
“The Air Force is fortunate to have leaders like General Dave Allvin. During his tenure, the Air Force has undertaken transformational initiatives that will enable Airmen to answer their nation’s call for decades to come,” Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink said in a statement.
The dismissals began within days of President Trump’s return to the White House, with the firing of Adm. Linda Fagan, then the commandant of the Coast Guard, by the acting secretary of Homeland Security. Officials at DHS later told the U.S. Navy Institute that her termination was due to “leadership deficiencies, operational failures and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
President Trump said in a Feb. 21 post on Truth Social that Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown would be out of a job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before his term was over.
“He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Mr. Trump said, just before announcing his nomination of Air Force Gen. Dan Caine to replace Gen. Brown.
Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff as chief of Naval Operations, was also fired on Feb. 21, 2025. Her removal was part of a broad wave of dismissals in the incoming Trump administration, which also included Air Force Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of Staff.
In April, President Trump fired the director of the National Security Agency, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a former head of the Navy War College. She was the U.S. military representative to the NATO military committee at the time of her termination.
“The Navy will be much worse off if Secretary Hegseth continues to relieve female officers from senior command and leadership positions,” said Adm. Montgomery, director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
“These women are fully qualified in all respects, and contrary to Hegseth’s uninformed writings in his book, female officers are equally qualified to command at all operational levels of the Navy,” Adm. Montgomery said.
Other recent firings include Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, the chief of the U.S. Navy Reserve, and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, commander of the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Command.
In May, the Defense Department announced a plan for a minimum 20% reduction in the number of 4-star positions across the active-duty military; a 20% reduction of general officers in the National Guard. In a memorandum announcing the senior-level personnel reduction, Mr. Hegseth said the Defense Department must “cultivate exceptional senior leaders who drive innovation and operational excellence.”
“A critical step in this process is removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions,” he wrote.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was skeptical of the “sweeping” plans to cut senior military leadership because they lack both data-driven analysis and an explanation of the desired outcome.
“As a result, his proposal has raised more questions than it answers,” Mr. Smith said in a statement. “Does it make sense to make these cuts on the heels of the previous reductions? Is this part of a larger budget and national security strategy? Or is this an arbitrary gutting of military leadership?”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.