Like All Dictators Do, Trump is Purging the Top Military Brass

Using his inept simpleton Defense Secretary minion (who is more often drunk than sober), Pete Hegseth, as his henchman, Donald Trump is doing what all dictators do: Concentrate all power in his own hands. Like Stalin and Hitler who carried out major purges in their military institutions to rid themselves of people whose objectivity and integrity conflicted with the dictator's whimsical and often erroneous decisions. 
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Top Air Force general [forced] to resign because Pete Hegseth wants to take Pentagon in ‘different direction’
Joe Sommerlad
Tue, August 19, 2025


U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin is to retire two years into his four-year term, marking the latest shake-up at the Department of Defense under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The Air Force announced in a statement that Allvin would leave his role on November 1, with Air Force Secretary Troy Meink thanking him for his “transformational” efforts.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as the 23rd Air Force Chief of Staff and I’m thankful for Secretary Meink, Secretary Hegseth and President Trump’s faith in me to lead our service,” Allvin is quoted as saying.

“More than anything, I’m proud to have been part of the team of airmen who live out our core values of integrity, service and excellence every day as we prepare to defend this great nation.”

U.S. Gen. David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, speaks alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on March 21 2025 (Getty)

According to The Washington Post, Allvin was “informed last week that he would be asked to retire and that the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted to go in another direction.”

“It was certainly not his choice,” the newspaper quotes an unnamed source as saying.

The Independent has asked the Pentagon for clarification about the circumstances of Allvin’s departure.

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, whom Trump nominated in July to become vice chief of staff of the Air Force and was involved in the “Operation Midnight Hammer” strikes on Iran’s nuclear bases in June, has been tipped as a possible replacement for the outgoing general.

The upheaval is only the latest to take place under Hegseth, with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of naval operations, the commandant of the Coast Guard, and the vice chief of staff of the Air Force all changed since he took charge in January.

Several generals and admirals in less prominent roles also have been replaced.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had had to step in to help Hegseth hire a new chief of staff and two senior advisers due to an abiding reluctance to work with him.

While those positions would ordinarily be considered highly prestigious, the secretary was struggling to fill them after causing a stir with his response to the “Signalgate” scandal, which erupted in March when Trump’s short-lived national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat in which top secret information about an upcoming bombing raid on Houthi rebels in Yemen was discussed.

In April, The New York Times reported that Hegseth had shared sensitive material in another group chat that included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.

Hegseth responded by accusing three senior aides of leaking to the media. Still, an investigation later found no evidence against them, which reportedly cast fresh doubt on his judgment within the West Wing.

Shortly after that, his chief of staff, Joe Kasper, and spokesperson John Ullyot both left the Department of Defense, leaving behind an unwanted portrait of chaos.