Former President Donald Trump’s team is reportedly preparing a list of U.S. Defense Department officers who may face dismissal, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to Reuters sources.
It remains unclear whether Trump will approve this plan, although he has previously criticized military leadership over the handling of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. According to sources, the first wave of dismissals is expected to target those linked to former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who, as noted in Bob Woodward’s book *Peril*, referred to Trump as a “fascist.”
Everyone promoted and appointed by Milley will go. A detailed list has been made of all those associated with him, and they will all be dismissed, one source stated.
Reuters also reports that calls for a “radical overhaul” of Pentagon leadership, including current Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Brown, have been echoed by Pete Hegseth, whom Trump recently nominated as Secretary of Defense. Hegseth has criticized Air Force General C.Q. Brown and Charles Brown, alleging that they received their positions “because of their race,” as both generals are African American.
