A story of discord between the White House and the Pentagon featured an alleged apology from the president to an ousted general via a known oppositional senator on her way out of Congress.
Since President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, Democrat obstruction has only been reviled by that of RINOs undercutting his agenda. Now, as military operations dragged on in the Middle East, The New York Times presented a “rudderless” Army under War Secretary Pete Hegseth while quoting Trump as apologizing through Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst (R) for the ousting of U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April.
In a report citing “current and former officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters,” the Times said that Ernst called the president after the ouster to vouch for the fellow Iowan, including citing the voting record of his parents as Trump supporters.
It was on that call that the commander-in-chief was alleged to have pointed a finger at Hegseth for pushing George into an abrupt retirement, supposedly requesting of the senator, “Tell the general I’m sorry.”
Along with mention of the ousters of Gen. David Hodne and Maj. Gen. William Green, the Times also addressed the expected departure of U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, alluding to a personal motivation from the War Secretary.
“Until recently, Mr. Driscoll was widely seen as a potential candidate to replace Mr. Hegseth if he decided to step down or fell out of favor with President Trump,” read the newspaper which also said, “The Army has not had a chief of staff, the service’s top officer, since Mr. Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George without explanation in April, and there are no signs that he is close to filling the position,” insisting between “firings and feuds … Hegseth has left the Army essentially rudderless as it struggles to deal with the threat posed by cheap, deadly drones and missiles that have pounded U.S. bases in the Middle East.”
Worth remembering, Ernst, who opted against seeking re-election and previously faced backlash for supporting gender ideologues in the military, only came around to vote in favor of Hegseth’s nomination after feeling pressure from the president’s camp. Before that, The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis described her opposition, writing, “Joni Ernst is waging an ‘aggressive’ personal jihad against Pete Hegseth, including constant phone calls to Trump demanding that he dump Hegseth.”
“Sources also told @FDRLST that Lindsey Graham was dispatched to TrumpWorld this weekend to knife Hegseth and suggest that Ernst replace him as Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary,” added the CEO.
Joni Ernst is waging an “aggressive” personal jihad against Pete Hegseth, including constant phone calls to Trump demanding that he dump Hegseth. Sources also told @FDRLST that Lindsey Graham was dispatched to TrumpWorld this weekend to knife Hegseth and suggest that Ernst… pic.twitter.com/ODO5mR2NUB
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 5, 2024
While the Times noted there was no given explanation for George’s ouster, investigative journalist Catherine Herridge reported at the time how the general had a history of “ignoring” cases of soldiers injured by the mandate to be injected with the mRNA COVID shots.
