Charles Q. Brown Jr., Summit of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Date of dismissal: 21 February 2025. Brown was the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the United States, the chief military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defence and the National Security Council. An Air Force officer, fighter pilot and former Air Force Chief of Staff, he was the second African-American to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump fired him with immediate effect and announced the appointment of retired General Dan Caine in his place. An unprecedented shake-up in the military leadership, to be read in the light of the campaign against what the president had called 'woke' generals.