Trump Fires Top US General and Navy Chief

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, speaks during a hearing in Washington on May 8, 2024. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

President Donald Trump has fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In a Truth Social post Friday evening, Trump thanked Brown for his service.

“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Trump wrote. “He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”

Trump announced he was nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to replace Brown.

“General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience,” wrote Trump.

The president also said in the social media post that he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to nominate suitable individuals for five additional high-level positions.

Caine is set to become the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. He would also become the principal military adviser to the president, secretary of defense, and National Security Council.

“General Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment,” Hegseth wrote in a statement. “I look forward to working with him.”

Hegseth noted that outgoing Chairman Brown has had a distinguished career, serving honorably over the past four decades.

“I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth has also requested nominations for the positions of chief of naval operation and Air Force vice chief of staff. His nominees would replace Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Slife, respectively.

“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,” Hegseth stated in the statement.

Caine was sworn in as the associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency in November 2021. He most recently served as the director of special programs and the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office at the Pentagon. He served as the principal staff assistant and adviser to the secretary of defense for all programs under special access controls.

He has served as an F-16 fighter pilot, weapons officer, member of the White House staff, and special operations officer.

Caine is credited with numerous reports, including the “Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned Report” and “The National Strategy for Homeland Security.”

“The United States derives much of its strength from its advantage in the realm of science and technology (S&T), and we must continue to use this advantage and encourage innovative research and development to assist in protecting and defending against the range of natural and man-made threats confronting the Homeland,” the latter report states.

Some lawmakers took to social media to opine on the appointments, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.), who posted on X that Trump’s firing of Brown and Franchetti is a betrayal of service members.

“This is a growing national security risk,” she stated.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) questioned the replacement of Judge Advocates General (JAG) officers. “The purge of senior officers at DOD is deeply troubling, but purging JAG officers worries me the most,” he posted on X.

“JAG officers interpret law for our commanders. They help determine what’s lawful and constitutional.”

Robert Greenway, former deputy assistant to the president under Trump, applauded the nomination of Caine.

“I’ve known [Caine] for nearly four decades and know no one more qualified to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff! [The president] has an exceptional eye for talent,” he wrote.

Brown began serving on Oct. 1, 2023, as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after serving as the 22nd chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. He twice served as a Combined/Joint Air Component Commander at U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Pacific Air Forces.