An anonymous American official claims that Pete Hegseth wishes to appoint someone in his place who can implement the vision of Donald Trump and his defense minister for the army.
Randy George in Washington, United States, September 19, 2025. (AFP / JIM WATSON)
The purge continues in the American armed forces, with the immediate departure of the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy George, whom American Defense Minister Pete Hegseth wanted to get rid of, according to an American official on Thursday, April 2.
This senior officer “will leave his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army with immediate effect,” wrote Pentagon spokesman X Sean Parnell, wishing him “a happy retirement.” He does not provide a reason for this sudden departure.
CBS News, which revealed the information, cites an anonymous American official affirming that Pete Hegseth wishes to appoint someone in his place who can implement the vision of Donald Trump and his defense minister for the army.
Concerns about the politicization of the army
General Randy George, a graduate of the prestigious military academy West Point who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was appointed to this position in 2023, during the mandate of Democratic President Joe Biden. This is another departure among the highest ranks of the American army since Donald Trump’s return to power. The American president had, without explanation, dismissed Charles “CQ” Brown, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces at the beginning of 2025, to replace him with Dan Caine.
Since then, the chiefs of the Navy, Coast Guard, NSA espionage agency, and many others have been pushed out by the Trump administration.
Pete Hegseth, at the helm of a ministry he renamed “Ministry of War,” has asserted that he simply chooses the leaders he wants to lead the world’s largest military budget.
Opposition Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the potential politicization of the army, which traditionally remains more isolated from political battles than the rest of the American state apparatus.
