Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of Defense, has faced intense scrutiny surrounding his role since he was announced at the start of President Donald Trump’s second presidential term.
There have been a host of missteps, public gaffes, outrageous comments, inflammatory statements and cringeworthy viral videos that have further made many question if he is fit to be in his position — and now high-ranking military officials have reportedly followed suit.
According to a recent interview with the New York Times, Iraq war veteran and Times Opinion columnist David French spoke with former Special Forces officer Mike Nelson about Hegseth’s approach to military leadership, and the pushback he has received.
During the conversation, French pointed out that Hegseth fired certain generals for following orders handed down by the Trump administration, which has ultimately led to ill feelings and distrust.
”I’m so glad you raised the generals, because I had a conversation with one of the fired generals not long ago, and this person pointed out that, in essence, they were fired for following orders,” French began.
“In other words, the Biden administration handed down some edicts and some orders regarding D.E.I. — diversity, equity, inclusion and other things — and as loyal soldiers, whether they agreed or not, they saluted and they carried out those orders,” he said. “And Hegseth comes in and essentially says: Well, if you were carrying out the orders that were the priority of the previous administration, you’re woke, you’re weak, whatever, and you’re gone.”
French continued, adding: “And one of the fears that was expressed to me by this former general was that, well, does that then set a precedent that if you are a general officer and you follow the orders of an administration, that the next administration will come in and purge you, replace you with general officers who have to then follow their orders, who will then only be purged by the next administration?”
He also pointed out the precedent that firings set generals on edge with questions about job security.
“It strikes me that the Trump administration is setting a precedent here that if actually carried out by other presidents would be catastrophic for the integrity of the military,” he said.
“And it’s setting a precedent that, given enough time under the current administration, could be catastrophic for the idea that merit matters as much as political fidelity. But it was very chilling to me to hear the general essentially say, ‘I was fired for following a lawful order.’”
Nelson then offered his take on why generals are rejecting Hegseth’s guidance, while offering insight to the legality of the matter.
“A lot of the criticism that Hegseth has steered toward these generals — who implemented, as you said, the lawful orders of the previous duly elected president and the civilian leadership through the secretary of defense — focus on two things, largely. Well, three things, I guess: D.E.I. in general — kind of a big umbrella — the Covid-19 vaccine mandate and the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he stated.
“Everything that was just listed, we can disagree with or think were bad ideas or conducted poorly, and all of them were lawful orders from the duly elected president through the civilian leadership,” Nelson said.
”Right now, there’s a great deal of discussion about generals rejecting Secretary Hegseth’s guidance,” he continued. “There are two places that I have concern about legality: One being the overall legality of the war with Iran, and the second being the Sept. 2, 2025, boat strike, at the beginning of Operation Southern Spear.”
Nelson noted that although he (and other generals) may vehemently disagree with Hegseth, his practices are indeed legal.
“I think it’s fair to say that I disagree and think that most of Secretary Hegseth’s stuff or ideas are bad ideas — counterproductive and potentially damaging in the long term — but they are legal. And would he want these same generals that he’s propping up to be fired immediately in 2029, in January, because they implemented his orders?” he asked.
Nelson added: “The secretary needs to remember that his predecessors gave legal orders, whether he agreed with them or not, and he is in a position now to implement new policy, and that’s fine. We may disagree with it, but they are legal orders.”