Which Joint Chiefs of Staff members criticized or defended Trump and what were their statements?
Executive summary
Multiple members of the Joint Chiefs and their predecessors have publicly clashed with or criticized President Donald Trump at different times; most prominently, retired Gen. Mark Milley and then‑Chairman Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. have been portrayed as at odds with Trump’s positions, and Trump has removed Brown and other senior officers in February 2025 (e.g., Brown’s firing and nomination of Dan “Razin” Caine) [1] [2] [3]. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led calls to remove officers he accused of supporting “woke” diversity programs and explicitly said “you’ve got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs” on a podcast [4] [2].
1. Trump’s removals: a seismic break with recent practice
President Trump fired Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Charles Q. “CQ” Brown Jr. on Feb. 21–22, 2025 and moved to replace him with Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, an unprecedented purge that also included the Navy’s top officer and other senior leaders; news outlets framed the action as a major shake‑up that raised concerns about politicizing the military [2] [5] [1].
2. Pete Hegseth: the Defense Secretary who called for the chair’s firing
Before his confirmation, Pete Hegseth publicly urged that the chairman be fired as part of a broader effort to remove leaders associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, saying on a podcast, “First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs,” and later as secretary defended the personnel moves [4] [2] [6].
3. CQ Brown: criticized by the administration, praised elsewhere
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. — the first Black Air Force chief of staff and, at the time, Joint Chiefs chair — was fired after roughly 16 months in the role; reporting notes Brown had warned that “US credibility is at stake” over certain Trump comments and had been the subject of criticism for his support of diversity efforts, which opponents portrayed as “woke” [7] [6] [8].
4. Mark Milley: the outspoken predecessor who clashed with Trump
Retired Gen. Mark Milley, Brown’s predecessor, has been publicly identified as a frequent critic of Trump’s instincts; analysts and reporters say Milley “got into trouble with Trump for speaking his mind pretty loudly,” and Trump’s past relationship with Milley was contentious enough to produce revocations of security privileges after Milley criticized the former president [1] [9].
5. Other Joint Chiefs and service chiefs: statements, solidarity and limits
Historically, members of the Joint Chiefs have issued public statements condemning racism and attempting to distance the military from partisan fights — for example, in 2017 chiefs restated the services’ commitment to reject racism — showing the institution’s occasional public divergence from presidential rhetoric without naming the president directly [10] [11]. Available sources do not mention detailed, contemporaneous public statements from each serving Joint Chiefs member in the February 2025 firings beyond Brown and the cited former chair Milley [1] [5].
6. Former defense secretaries and institutional pushback
Five former defense secretaries (including Lloyd Austin, Jim Mattis and Chuck Hagel) urged congressional hearings and warned that the firings appeared “purely partisan” and weakened national security, signaling elite institutional resistance to the purge and providing context for why some military leaders were publicly critical of the administration’s approach [12].
7. How sources frame motive: loyalty vs. politicization
Reporting portrays two competing frames: administration officials and Hegseth argued the changes were about restoring “warfighting” focus and replacing leaders perceived as tied to DEI priorities [4] [2]; critics — including former defense secretaries, lawmakers and many news outlets — described the moves as politically motivated and worry about the erosion of the Joint Chiefs’ apolitical advisory role [12] [8].
8. What the record shows and what’s not in the reporting
The record in these sources documents Brown’s firing, Hegseth’s prior advocacy for removing DEI‑aligned leaders, the nomination of Dan Caine, and public critiques by figures like Milley and ex‑defense secretaries [2] [4] [1] [12]. Available sources do not mention verbatim, contemporaneous public quotes from every current Joint Chiefs member explicitly defending or attacking Trump during the February 2025 purge; those specifics are not found in current reporting provided here [5] [1].
Limitations and implications: the sources collected are news reports and opinion context from late February–April 2025 and trace a clear pattern of administration action and institutional pushback; they do not supply a comprehensive catalog of every Joint Chiefs member’s public statement about Trump during this period, and differing outlets emphasize either national‑security risks or the administration’s claim of refreshing military leadership [8] [12].