Pentagon shakeup: Trump fires Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Q. Brown, names new leadership

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he has fired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine as his replacement.

The termination comes after weeks of change at the Pentagon as the new Trump administration takes over. Brown, who was also an Air Force general, was nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed to the position in 2023.

Trump, who nominated Brown to be the Air Force’s chief of staff in 2020, praised the outgoing chairman as an "outstanding leader," and thanked him for his devotion to the country.

"I want to thank General Charles 'CQ' Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," the president said in a post on Truth Social. "He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family."

Trump described the new nominee, who the New York Times reported came on the president's radar six years ago in Iraq, as someone who was "instrumental" in his defeat of ISIS during the first term.

“Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Trump wrote. “General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience.

"During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks," he continued. "Many so-called military 'geniuses' said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered."

The newest shakeup in military leadership comes after the White House claimed the administration wanted to appoint their own leaders, criticizing the Pentagon under Biden as being too focused on implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion policies within the military, instead of military readiness.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also reportedly looking to oust the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, per ABC News.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.