A former senior Air Force official is warning Americans that the Trump administration is promoting "naked self-interest" among military officials by politicizing their roles.
Frank Kendall, who was the secretary of the U.S. Air Force under the Biden administration, published in an opinion piece Monday for The New York Times arguing that Trump is turning the military on its head by firing senior military officials so he can ostensibly install loyalists in their place.
He cited Trump's firing of Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's top admiral. ABC News reported it was "the first time that two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been dismissed from their senior military roles." The report added that Brown "was the second Black American to serve in the role and Franchetti was the first woman to serve as the Navy's top admiral."
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Kendell wrote, "President Trump’s decision to fire senior military leaders without cause is foolish and a disgrace. It politicizes our professional military in a dangerous and debilitating way."
He continued, "It pains me to see these fine people being treated so unfairly and, for the first time in my career, to see dedicated, apolitical military professionals being removed without cause. I am worried about political loyalty becoming a criterion to hold high military positions."
Kendall explained, "One of the most admirable characteristics of the American military is that all serving members are trained to understand that America stands for more than naked self-interest" by always putting the Constitution and the rule of law first. Trump's indiscriminate firings undermine those "core principles," according to Kendall.
"We are in danger when the legal constraints on how the president uses the military, including within the United States, are ignored or brushed aside," Kendall warned.