Trump’s 'culture of fear and intimidation' wreaking havoc in US military

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Members of the military attend a meeting convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heavily emphasized MAGA culture-war themes during a gathering of military generals on September 30, with Hegseth vowing to restore a "warrior ethos" to the U.S. Armed Forces by ending "woke" policies. But critics of the MAGA movement are arguing that Hegseth is making the military weaker, not stronger, with a series of purges — from the ousting of former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman C.Q. Brown to the recent firing of U.S. Navy Chief of Staff Jon Harrison.

In an article published on October 9, Politico reporters Paul McLeary and Daniel Lippman describe the tensions and uncertainty the Pentagon is facing eight and one-half months into Trump's second presidency.

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's latest firing of a top Navy official injected a fresh wave of fear into the Pentagon over the cost of speaking up and who might be next," McLeary and Lippman report. "The Pentagon chief, in less than a year, has purged a handful of the military's most senior officials, terminated some of his closest advisers and last week warned a gathering of generals and admirals that many of them could face a similar fate. The sudden dismissal last week of Jon Harrison, the Navy chief of staff, has only added to concerns about Hegseth’s objectives, according to five current and former defense officials."

McLeary and Lippman add, "Most of his moves have come without public explanation, and led to a deepening sense of uncertainty throughout the department — one that risks silencing pushback on critical decisions that affect how the U.S. military interacts with the world."

A senior defense official, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Politico, "(There's a) culture of fear. There's a culture of intimidation and retaliation. It's better just to keep your head down and not necessarily try to do anything to the advantage of the organization, because it's very much run from the top down."

Hegseth's "unspoken motivations for the firings," according to McLeary and Lippman, "have put many tied to the Pentagon on edge."

A former defense official, also quoted anonymously, told Politico, "It adds to the climate of fear when randomly, people are just suddenly done."

Read the full Politico article at this link.

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