Army Secretary Warned Trump About Hegseth Just Before Resigning

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll—one of the highest-ranking officials in the Defense Department—warned President Trump that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s mass purge of military leadership could have a negative impact on the Army’s “transformation and readiness,” according to The Atlantic. Then he resigned.

During their meeting, Trump was reportedly shocked when Driscoll told him just how many officials had been fired, stepped down, or not selected for promotion under Hegseth—something you’d think the president would already know about. Now, in the midst of a flailing war with Iran, the military is without its highest-ranking civilian leader, two Senate-confirmed head generals, and a confirmed commander.

Driscoll and Hegseth have seemingly been at odds from the moment Trump appointed Hegseth to head the Pentagon. In April, The Hill reported that Hegseth saw Driscoll as a threat to his leadership given Driscoll’s connection to Vice President JD Vance and his more traditional, less aggressive leadership style—with Hegseth’s team going so far as to try to frame Driscoll as a “resistance figure” in an effort to oust him from the administration.

Hegseth had already eviscerated Driscoll’s support network, firing his chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, and two other high-ranking military officials in April. Driscoll’s Monday resignation was a long time coming, if nothing else. It’s unclear what exactly Hegseth’s problem with Driscoll was beyond paranoia and Driscoll’s lack of total capitulation.

“From what I’ve seen in the press, and from whatever it’s worth, what I hear from people in the Army, it’s not like Driscoll is scheming and plotting to make Hegseth look bad. I mean, Hegseth takes care of that himself on a regular basis. It’s just, it’s all just very strange. And it’s just irresponsible,” retired Army reserve colonel and Pentagon staffer Kevin Carroll told The Hill in April.

Either way, Driscoll is gone now, and Hegseth will have one less detractor to his vision of a reckless, hypermasculine, shoot-first-ask-questions-later military to reign supreme over.