'Fear' among senior military leaders over purge of top defense officials: Fox News

President Donald Trump's leadership has already rankled military officials, but Fox News' national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported Tuesday that his Secretary of Defense is causing outright anger.

Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to fire Col. Dave Butler from the chief of the Army Public Affairs and chief advisor to Driscoll, who is currently in Geneva negotiating the end of the war against Ukraine.

The problem might come from Butler's previous job under Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump is still angry at for speaking out against him. One of Trump's actions in his first few weeks on the job was to strip Milley of his security detail and clearance.

Butler has appeared on the Army's list of 34 officers selected for promotion. He was even slated to score his first star. Hegseth has refused to move forward with the list for nearly four months, saying he has "concerns" about a handful of those selected by the Army board.

Hegseth's problem, however, is that, by law, he can't take them off the list. So, Butler volunteered to remove himself if it meant others would get their promotions.

Driscoll is a very close ally of Vice President JD Vance, dating back to college at Yale Law School. He resisted the firing of Butler.

“We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation. Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts. He will be missed and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service,” Driscoll said in a statement.

Butler helped jump start negotiations with Driscoll in Ukraine last November. He even earned praise from Trump last year when the Army had its 250th birthday celebration and parade.

This is just the latest in many who ended up on Hegseth's cut-list since he took over the Pentagon. Others were forced into retirement. Most weren't given a reason.

"Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was serving as Chief of Naval Operations, General CQ Brown who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Mingus, who was serving as Vice Chief of the Army, General DA Sims, director of the Joint Staff, Air Force Chief General David Allvin, General James Slife, Vice Chief of the Air Force, and General Timothy Haugh, director of the NSA, among others," listed Griffin.

It isn't unusual for top military officials to leave as administrations change. This was different, however.

"The unexplained firings have led to fear, uncertainty, and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders," said Griffin.

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