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Pete Hegseth pushes top general out of the Pentagon

newsJun 24, 2026261,140

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced four-star General Christopher T. Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, to submit his retirement, removing a senior operational leader from the Pentagon. Donahue is a decorated special-operations veteran who commanded Delta Force, led the 82nd Airborne from July 2020 to March 2022, and was the last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan. His departure is the latest in a wave of high-level exits, with nearly two dozen senior officers leaving early under Hegseth’s tenure, and followed clashes between Donahue and the defense secretary. The loss matters because Donahue played a central role in adapting U.S. forces to drone and artificial intelligence challenges and in coordinating support for Ukraine and NATO, raising concerns about readiness and alliance continuity.

The New York Times
@nytimes.com

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has forced Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, the top U.S. Army commander in Europe, to retire, a blow to those who saw him as a key leader of the military’s push to adapt to a future battlefield dominated by drones and artificial intelligence, defense officials said.

12544d ago
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