Army secretary refuses to resign despite direct pressure from Trump’s defense chief

Amid a slew of departures and firings in the Trump administration one Army Secretary says he’s not going anywhere, despite his clashes with headstrong Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Washington Post reports Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has no plans to resign or leave his role at the Pentagon, according to a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday, regardless of a series of internal clashes with Hegseth that have caused other U.S. officials to question how long they can coexist.

“Hegseth and Driscoll have disagreed on numerous issues, including Hegseth’s moves to block the promotions of several Army officers,” said the Post, according to anonymous sources.

“Serving under President [Donald] Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I remain laser focused on providing America with the strongest land fighting force the world has ever seen,” Driscoll said in a statement to The Post, which has not previously been reported. “I have no plans to depart or resign as the Secretary of the Army.”

“Driscoll’s statement follows last week’s abrupt ouster of the Army’s top officer, Gen. Randy George, and two other senior military leaders — and as Hegseth’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, has privately told colleagues that he is interested in Driscoll’s job should it become open, according to officials familiar with the matter.”

Driscoll has touted the Army’s role in the Trump administration’s weeks-long Iran war, but sources told the Post that he began to grate on Hegseth after Driscoll’s name was floated within the Trump administration as a potential replacement for a floundering Hegseth.

Last spring, the Post reports Hegseth was struggling “to gain his footing amid a number of controversies and other upheaval that consumed much of his first year in the role.”

More recently, Driscoll had found ways to delay George’s dismissal, even though Hegseth had “voiced interest last year in removing him,” the officials said.

“There have been multiple instances where Secretary Hegseth has tried to remove George, and Driscoll has said, ‘No, he’s done nothing wrong. He’s good,’” one official told the Post. “Driscoll has been very clear that merit should speak for itself.”