Former Top General Breaks Silence on Trump
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What did General C.Q. Brown Jr. say about Trump?
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General C.Q. Brown Jr., is breaking his silence and he is torching Donald Trump in an op-ed for Foreign Policy magazine and in a recent panel discussion before the Aspen Institute. He was not holding back. He was calling out the Trump regime for firing some of our top generals and top admirals, for political reasons, frankly, for racist and misogynistic reasons as well. He was calling out Pete Hegseth, and of course, he did use some diplomatic language in how he did it. But he brought this forward in a July 4th message, where if you read between the lines or actually read the lines, He compares Donald Trump to the kings of yesteryear under the rule when the United States was ruled by Britain and there was a monarchy.
And he describes how the American experiment was pushing back against monarchs and kings who would put their military as civilian police. Let me show you.
How did C.Q. Brown characterize Trump's leadership style?
I mean, this is some powerful stuff. Here's how the Wall Street Journal characterized it. Former top general warns the military is being politicized. And for those who know C.Q. Brown Jr., you know, they know that for him to get to this level, he is sounding the red alarm, folks. C.Q. Brown, who was fired as Trump's top general by Hegseth early on, questioned Donald Trump's handling of the armed forces. And it goes on to talk about how he published this essay. On Friday, also with two co-authors, where he cautioned that sending the military into American cities for politically contentious missions, like under the guise of fighting crime, risks compromising its traditionally apolitical role and diverting it from combat missions.
And then he went and wrote this op-ed in Foreign Affairs magazine following an appearance at the Aspen Institute where he basically said Donald Trump's behaving like a tyrant.
What warnings did Brown give about the military's politicization?
I'll get to that in a moment. C.Q. Brown told the Aspen Institute, "...what's starting to happen right now, it's not about merit." Well, if it was about merit, then C.Q. Brown Jr. wouldn't have been fired. He was appointed by Donald Trump in 2020 as the Air Force Chief of Staff. And then he was appointed by former President Biden, basically unanimously. Every Senate wanted him to be on there. And then Donald Trump fired him because Pete Hegseth didn't want a black leader as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Let's just call it what it is and not mince our words, folks. Let's talk about what he wrote for Foreign Policy magazine. Here it is. The military and the republic, what America's armed forces can and cannot do for democracy.
I thought this was one of the most powerful parts where he says the ideal was better than reality 250 years ago. And so it is today. The military must protect the respect that it has earned from American society by scrupulously following all lawful orders and by demonstrating every day that it is nonpartisan. In so doing, service members honor the oath they swear not to a particular party or political leader. but to the Constitution itself. What is at stake ultimately is the moral fabric from which the military draws its deepest strength.
How does C.Q. Brown compare Trump to historical monarchs?
As Lieutenant General Hal Moore observed in his 1992 book, We Were Soldiers Once and Young, American soldiers in battle don't fight for what some president says on TV. They don't fight for mom or apple pie, the American flag. They fight for one another. This is the same mutual obligation that at its core defines citizenship itself. The country's liberty depends on a mutual commitment to one another, regardless of color, creed, party, or military service. We'll get to that in a moment, but I wanna just show you how he starts off this op-ed or this essay in Foreign Affairs Magazine. He goes, celebrations of America's founding and reflections on its ideals often overlook the central role of civil military relations.
This is a mistake in the Declaration of Independence. A chief complaint was that King George III affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power. George Washington himself worried about this abuse of power and went to great pains to avoid it in his own career.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What did General C.Q. Brown Jr. say about Trump?
0:00–1:14
2
How did C.Q. Brown characterize Trump's leadership style?
1:14–2:22
3
What warnings did Brown give about the military's politicization?
2:22–3:55
4
How does C.Q. Brown compare Trump to historical monarchs?
3:55–6:40
5
What concerns did Brown express about military operations in civilian contexts?
6:40–8:26
6
What is the significance of civil-military relations according to Brown?
8:26–10:02
7
How does Brown view the erosion of merit in military promotions?
10:02–12:00
8
What are the implications of Brown's statements for the future of the military?
12:00–15:35