Trump says Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown leaving

President Donald Trump announced late Friday that US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown was stepping down, and he would nominate Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Caine as a replacement.

“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, without indicating if Brown had resigned or was fired.

The chairman is the highest-ranking military officer in the country, advising both the President and the secretary of defence on national security.

Brown was visiting troops at the US southern border on Friday.

Rumours had been swirling this week that Trump would seek to remove Brown, whose term was set to expire in 2027. Both AP and the New York Times reported on Friday that Brown had been fired.

In November, before he was confirmed, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on the Shawn Ryan Show Podcast that there were many problems with the current state of the military, including diversity initiatives, which the Trump administration should “course correct”.

“First of all, you got to fire the chairman of Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said in describing the steps he believed Trump should take.

Hegseth this week announced the Pentagon will cut its budget and next week will let go of 5,400 probationary employees.

Trump said in his post he had also directed Hegseth “to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon”.