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Donald Trump fired General CQ Brown as chairman of the Common Staff Chiefs on Friday, removing the respected Air Force leader while the president seeks to remove military officers who have supported diversity, equality and involvement policies.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also fired two other senior officers: Chief of Operations Admiral Lisa Francis and Deputy Chairman of the Air Force General Staff James Slife. Friday Friday’s surprise fires were sure to shake the US military, which Trump has pledged to escape what he has until the “smart” programs dei.
Brown, the second black general who served as the senior army officer, began what was supposed to be a four -year term in October 2023.
“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for over 40 years of his service for our country, including as our current chairman of the joint staff chiefs,” Trump wrote on his social platform of truth.
“He is an excellent gentleman and a prominent leader and I wish a great future for him and his family.”
Trump said he would appoint retirement General General Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown. Presidents usually choose someone for the role that is a chief of service or combat commander.
Trump met Caine when he visited Iraq in December 2018, where the officer was the deputy general commanding of the Special Operations Task Force there during the military campaign against the Islamic State.
During a 2024 speech at the Conservative Conference of Political Action, Trump said Caine “seemed better than any film actor you could get.”
Caine had recently retired by the military and joined Shield Capital as an enterprise partner. He had also served as the senior CIA adviser on military affairs, was an F-16 pilot and a White House friend, among other tasks.
“Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our army will restore peace through force, set America first and rebuild our army,” Trump told social truth.
Trump said he also addressed Hegseth to seek nominations “for five high -level positions, which will be announced soon.”
Hegseth said he and Trump “are establishing new leaderships that will focus our army on his essential mission of obstruction, fighting and winning wars.”
He said he was also hunting senior lawyers for the military, the Navy and the Air Force.
Speculation about Brown’s future were ignited by Trump’s appointment for Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. In a Podcast appearance in November, the former Fox News leader said: “First, you have to light the head of the common bosses.”
He accused Brown of attempting to implement “smart” policies along with other generals.
With a majority in the Senate, Trump can have wide width to replace senior officers.
Roger Wicker, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “secure secretary Hegseth and President Trump will choose a qualified and capable successor for the head of the Common Chiefs of Staff”.
“President Trump, like any president, deserves to elect the military advisers he knows, believes and has a relationship with him,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham posted on X.
The Pentagon said the early Friday that it would turn on 5,400 civilian workers starting next week, the first round in what is expected to be a greater cleansing of its labor force.
The Trump administration aims to shorten the Department of Defense’s workforce between 5 percent and 8 percent, said senior Pentagon official Darin Selnick. This will reach tens of thousands of people.
