Trump fires top military leaders in unprecedented shakeup

By Jack Detsch and Paul McLeary President Donald Trump fired Chair of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown on Friday night, and said he intends to dismiss the Navy’s top admiral and the Air Force’s second in command — an unprecedented shakeup of the Pentagon’s top brass that will trigger ripple effects throughout the military. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said he was nominating retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to take Brown’s place. Caine is a partner at Shield Capital, a venture capital firm. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, minutes later, said in a statement that he is “requesting nominations” for replacements for Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief Gen. James Slife. The Pentagon chief also said he was also looking for new nominations for senior judicial officers — the services’ top lawyers — for the Army, Navy and Air Force. The firings wipe away decades of military experience and could create a cascade of hasty promotions down the ranks that impact U.S. leadership across the globe. Brown’s firing became public while he was in Texas visiting troops on the southern border, and days after he huddled with European allies at a...