Trump Draft Executive Order Would Create Board to Purge Generals
Panel could upend military review process and raise concerns about politicization of military
Nov. 12, 2024 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-draft-executive-order-would-create-board-to-purge-generals-7ebaa606
WASHINGTON—The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.
If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.
As
commander in chief, Trump can fire any officer at will, but an outside
board whose members he appoints would bypass the Pentagon’s regular
promotion system, signaling across the military that he intends to purge
a number of generals and admirals.
The draft order says it aims to establish a review that focuses “on leadership capability, strategic readiness, and commitment to military excellence.” The draft doesn’t specify what officers need to do or present to show if they meet those standards. The draft order originated with one of several outside policy groups collaborating with the transition team, and is one of numerous executive orders under review by Trump’s team, a transition official said.
The warrior board would be made up of retired generals and noncommissioned officers, who would send their recommendations to the president. Those identified for removal would be retired at their current rank within 30 days.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, declined to comment on this draft executive order, but said “the American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”
The establishment of the board would be in line with Trump’s calls for purging what he views as failed generals, including those involved in the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to people familiar with the policy discussions. Trump has said he would ask all generals involved in the withdrawal to resign by “noon on Inauguration Day.”
The president-elect previewed the move during a campaign event in October, telling an audience that he would create a task force to monitor the “woke generals” and get rid of diversity training in the military.
“They’re gone,” Trump said of those generals, without naming specific officers.
One feared potential target of Trump’s threatened purge could be Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to two defense officials. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, Brown spoke about the impact that movement had on him and what it was like to rise through the military ranks as a Black fighter pilot.
The executive order, which has been reviewed by the president-elect’s transition team, may be presented to Trump when he takes office, and its implementation depends on whether he chooses to sign it in its current form, according to a person familiar with its drafting.
Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, which is pending, would be key in implementing the findings of the warrior board’s review. It isn’t clear who is on the shortlist to be Pentagon chief, after the top three contenders—Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.)—either dropped out, were ruled out or were given another job in the administration.
The Trump team wants to do major reforms at the Defense Department, particularly around the size of the joint staff, according to a person with knowledge of the transition.
“It’s gotten way too big,” this person said. “Trump also expects that many of the generals, the three- and four-star generals that have been underperforming will basically be retired.”
The draft executive order cites as precedent for the move Gen. George C. Marshall’s creation of a “plucking board” in 1940, led by retired general officers, to review the files of senior serving military officers and “remove from line promotion any officer for reasons deemed good and sufficient.” The goal of Marshall’s board was to make room to promote promising junior officers.
But some former officials believe the potential Trump administration is looking to politicize the military.
“Do they start wearing MAGA hats in formation to signal who’s where?” asked one former senior Pentagon official. “The potential for this to go wrong is infinite.”
The president has the power to fire generals but rarely does so for political reasons. President Harry Truman fired Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur for publicly challenging the administration’s Asia security strategy. President Barack Obama fired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal as his Afghanistan commander after the military leader’s subordinates were quoted as criticizing the administration in a magazine article.
U.S. troops take an oath of office to the Constitution and vow to not follow any illegal order, and Congress must approve the promotion of general officers.
But establishing a board separate from the current process, which uses serving officers, could undermine the idea that generals refrain from sharing their political views within the Pentagon. It could also potentially prompt officers not to speak out against orders they believe are illegal, says Eric Carpenter, professor of military law at Florida International University College of Law.
“This looks like an administration getting ready to purge anyone who will not be a yes man,” said Carpenter, a former Army lawyer. “If you are looking to fire officers who might say no because of the law or their ethics, you set up a system with completely arbitrary standards, so you can fire anyone you want.”
In the early days of his presidency, Trump openly expressed admiration for military generals and promoted a number of them to his administration. Ret. Marine Gen. Jim Mattis served as his first defense secretary. Ret. Marine Gen. John Kelly was his chief of staff and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster served as national security adviser.
But relations between Trump and the generals quickly soured. By the end of his term, all three of those officers publicly criticized him and described him as a threat to national security.
The president-elect also had a particularly fraught relationship with Ret. Army Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump nominated to serve as his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the final two years of his first administration. Milley told journalist Bob Woodward in his latest book that Trump is “a total fascist.”
Trump has called Milley a “loser.”
Write to Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com, Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com and Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com