Trump quietly begged Army secretary to stay through midterms — he quit anyway: report

President Donald Trump asked Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remain in his post at least through the November midterm elections, only to see him resign days later.

Trump made the request at a White House meeting last week, where Driscoll told the president he was leaving the administration, according to The Washington Post.

People familiar with the meeting described it to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity. A White House spokesperson disputed their characterization of the conversation.

Driscoll used that same meeting to warn Trump about the damage he believed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was doing to the Army, the Post reported. He also detailed the obstacles he faced as Hegseth intervened in the service's personnel decisions and its modernization programs.

Staying until November would not have reversed any of that. The midterm elections are Nov. 3, and the decisions Driscoll raised with the president had already been made inside Hegseth's Pentagon, according to the Post.

Driscoll submitted his resignation Monday, and the White House said his last day would be Thursday. A spokesman for Driscoll declined to comment, the Post reported.

A White House official separately told Axios that Driscoll had been asked to stay longer, until after the midterms, but that he told the White House he felt it was time for him to go.

Trump's request reflected Driscoll's good standing at the White House, people familiar with the matter told the Post. He was at one point seen as a possible replacement for Hegseth.

Driscoll was 38 when the Senate confirmed him. He came to the job from venture capital after an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2020. The secretary is also a longtime friend of Vice President JD Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School after both served in Iraq, according to the Post.

Driscoll hopes to work on a Vance presidential campaign in 2028, two people familiar with the matter told the newspaper. A spokesman for Vance declined to comment.

Hegseth has fired more than a dozen top generals and admirals without explanation since taking office last year, The Associated Press reported. He removed seven of the 18 Army one-star generals slated for promotion to major general in recent weeks, a U.S. official told the Post. NBC News first reported those cuts.

The military services have historically been left to identify and promote their own future leaders.

Hegseth has upended that process, halting the advancement of numerous officers and purging the ranks of those suspected of being at odds with the administration. Many of those targeted have been women and minorities.

The same administration that has pushed more than a dozen senior officers out of uniform asked Driscoll to stay, according to the Post's account of the meeting and the AP's tally of the firings.

Hegseth ousted Gen. Randy George, the Army's top uniformed officer and a Driscoll ally, in April, the AP reported. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has served as acting chief of staff since.

Driscoll told a House Appropriations subcommittee on April 16 that he was on vacation in North Carolina with his family when he learned George had been asked to resign, and that he drove straight to the general's home, Fox News reported.

"We walked right in, and we all gave him a hug," Driscoll told the subcommittee.

Driscoll was also frustrated that many of the Army's top modernization initiatives were moved out of the service and placed under Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, two people familiar with the matter told the Post.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined Wednesday to say whether Hegseth had sought Driscoll's departure, and he called any suggestion that Hegseth was hampering modernization "a total fabrication," according to the Post.

"The premise that the Department is in disarray is completely baseless and an insult to every dedicated professional and warfighter in this building," Parnell added. "This is what reform looks like."

Driscoll's exit leaves the Army without a Senate-confirmed civilian or uniformed leader as the United States resumes airstrikes against Iran in a war that is more than six months old, the AP reported.

Trump's approval rating stood at 38.7 percent, against 57.9 percent disapproval, in a Decision Desk HQ polling average, The Hill recently found. Candidates he endorsed have lost congressional races in Florida, Tennessee and Michigan in recent weeks, even as Trump said on Truth Social that his endorsements were "stronger than ever."

Lawmakers in both parties have criticized Hegseth's leadership since Driscoll's resignation became public.

"Secretary Hegseth is cultivating a culture where dissent is punished and competence is secondary to personal allegiance," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) cast the deciding vote to confirm Hegseth last year and has since said he regrets it. He urged Trump on Wednesday to pick a new defense secretary.

"I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country," Tillis said.

"If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement," Tillis wrote on X. "Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks."

Driscoll declined to express the concerns in his own public statement. He called the job "the honor of a lifetime" in a post on X late Tuesday, his first remarks since the White House confirmed his departure.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Driscoll had provided "outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality."

"We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth," Driscoll wrote.