U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a press briefing at the White House, on the one-year mark into his second term in office, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 20, 2026. REUTERS Nathan Howard
Dispatch writer Nick Catoggio appears to be feeling more venom than usual. On Friday Catoggio lit into the no-explanations secrecy with which President Donald Trump and his lieutenants conduct business, particularly the quick removal of four-star Gen. Chris Donahue.
Donohue was the top Army commander in Europe who led Delta Force in battle against ISIS. As commander of the 82nd Airborne, Catoggio said he was also famously the last man out of Afghanistan when U.S. troops withdrew in 2021.
Before his removal the Atlantic reports he was “leading the service’s effort to take lessons from Ukraine and apply them to future conflict.
“Not a man the military would lightly part with, one might think. He must have done something awfully bad for our defense secretary, who famously loves warfightin’ warriors, to send him packing,” said Catoggio. “… Or maybe it simply bugged Hegseth to have someone in the chain of command as universally admired as Donahue is. It’s not just a matter of jealousy (although it probably is that too). An officer as distinguished as Donahue having to answer to a cosplaying yutz who used to host Fox & Friends Weekend only made Hegseth’s yutziness more glaring by contrast to the brass, I’m sure.”
But there’s no official explanation coming on why exactly Donohue is out — and you’re not going to get one in this administration, said Catoggio.
“[E]lecting a figure like Trump implicitly amounts to a sort of waiver by voters of their right to accountability from their government,” Catoggio said. “You don’t hand power to a nationalist strongman expecting that he’ll dutifully explain his thinking on policy periodically like some egghead technocrat. You do it because you don’t expect that. You trust him. Your vote is a vote of confidence in him and his instincts.”
Under Trump, “the people’s role in government ends on election night. (Unless the Democrats win, of course, in which case rigorous oversight going forward is a must.) The administration couldn’t be any plainer about that,” said Catoggio. “‘TRUST IN TRUMP,’ the official White House Twitter account declared a few weeks ago amid spiking anxiety over gas prices, going on to quote the president: "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!"
And that’s your answer as to why Chris Donahue was fired, said Catoggio. It’s what Americans supposedly agreed to do in 2024, so that’s all the explanation they’re entitled to.
“The last 16 months are littered with examples of that ethos at work,” Catoggio added, referring to DOGE running “roughshod” over federal agencies with little explanation to Congress or voters about what was getting cut or why. It also explains the complete silence behind dozens of “outrageous” federal pardons being issued without explanation, just like Trump’s “Liberation Day” trade war, and his disastrous war on Iran.
“Even the Justice Department’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, an obsession of the president’s own base, would still be hidden if not for a revolt in Congress that forced their publication. MAGA fans who turned out in 2024 may have thought they were voting for transparency on Epstein by voting for the president, but that’s not how postliberalism works. To Trump, they were voting to signal their absolute trust in him,” said Catoggio. “If he thought they shouldn’t see the Epstein material, that should have been good enough. No further explanation required.”
