Donald Trump removes senior US general CQ Brown in a shake-up at the Pentagon

The nation’s highest-ranking commander, as part of a significant reorganization of top military leadership.

Trump wrote on social media, “I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country.” He also announced the replacement of five other senior executives.

The position advises the president and the secretary of defense on matters of national security, and Gen. Brown was the second Black officer to occupy it.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has earlier stated that Gen. Brown’s “woke” emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the military should result in his termination.

Two more senior officers were dismissed, Hegseth said later Friday: Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jim Slife and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

The first female commander of the United States Navy was Adm.lisa Franchetti.

Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, appointed all three of the senior officers ousted on Friday.

Hegseth issued the following statement: “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.”

According to Trump, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, a career F-16 pilot who most recently held the position of CIA associate director for military affairs.

During the Conservative Political Action Conference last year, Trump recalled his initial encounter with Gen. Caine in Iraq. “He looked better than any movie actor you could get,” Trump insisted to the crowd.

He suggested the US military was “woke at the top” while still praising it in the same address.

On Friday, almost two hours before Trump’s post announcing his retirement, Gen. Brown had been visiting troops at the southern US border.

With the commander’s term ending in 2027, there had been rumors this week that the president would fire him.

When Gen. Brown spoke out about race after George Floyd’s death in 2020, it made headlines.

In a video message to the US Air Force, he detailed the difficulties he had encountered as one of the few Black guys in his unit, including being asked about his qualifications.

In 2022, Gen. Brown co-signed a document outlining diversity targets to increase the percentage of minority applicants for officers while lowering the number of white candidates while serving as the Air Force’s chief of staff.

From 1989 to 1993, Colin Powell was the first Black person to hold the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Trump fired the Coast Guard’s first female commandant last month, claiming “excessive focus” on diversity as one of his first actions after taking office.

Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth stated in a podcast in November that the Trump administration should “course correct” the military’s numerous issues, including diversity initiatives.

“First of all, you have to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth stated while outlining the actions he thought Trump ought to take.

Along with reducing its budget, the Pentagon said Friday it will fire 5,400 probationary staff members the following week.

A federal court in Maryland, meanwhile, temporarily stopped Trump from enforcing prohibitions on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Adam Abelson, a district judge, decided that Trump’s orders might be in violation of the US Constitution’s guarantee of free expression.