Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is under renewed fire over his “purge” of decorated general Christopher T. Donahue. The New York Times, in an article titled ‘Inside the Battle to Save One Pioneering General from Hegseth’s Purge’, alleges that Hegseth ignored and dismissed evidence that didn’t agree with his personal assessment of Donahue’s conduct.
General Donahue was formerly one of the most respected and experienced commanders in the US military. He spent two decades in the US Army’s Special Operations Command, served in and commanded Delta Force, then served as the commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa and the commander of Allied Land Command.
However, Donahue retired from the military under a cloud of Aug. 27 at the relatively young age of 57 after finding himself at the center of a political controversy relating to the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Donahue was the senior commander at Kabul airport and became the last foreign soldier on the ground, being photographed entering a cargo plane.
“Woke generals”
Donald Trump was infuriated by the US exit from Afghanistan, variously describing it as the nation’s “greatest embarrassment,” the “dumbest move,” and blaming “incompetent” leadership and “woke generals.” This put Donahue in Trump’s crosshairs, which also made him a target for Hegseth.
But, as the NY Times details, Donahue is largely blameless for the way the withdrawal proceeded, was not in command of the Marines manning the airport, and appears to have been targeted simply because of the photograph of him entering the plane. As per the report, Hegseth zeroed in on the image and described it as a “selfie” taken by Donahue and distributed by him.
They say Hegseth’s then-chief of staff, Joe Kasper, tried his best to get Hegseth to see reason, handing him a card outlining several verified facts: the photograph was explicitly not a selfie, that the image had been taken by an Army photographer, that Donahue was not responsible for it being made public, and that Donahue’s troops were not responsible for the breach in security.
Kasper explained that (as per the NY Times) “Donahue had seen more combat in his 20-plus deployments than just about any officer in the U.S. military. A star in the clandestine world of special forces, he had spent years in the shadows hunting terrorist leaders. And then as the world and warfare changed, he changed with it.” According to the Times, Hegseth glanced at the card and then handed it back, saying “I don’t care.”
Donahue was then reportedly blocked from making his own case in a meeting with JD Vance, the pleas of senior lawmakers and military officials were ignored, and Hegseth apparently became determined to rid himself of this troublesome general. And so (after his supporter, Army Chief General Randy George, was fired by Hegseth) Donahue retired, taking his decades of hard-won military experience with him.
Reactions point to Hegseth firing people far more experienced than him, and a general concern about a US military brain drain. One described Donahue’s retirement as a “great loss to our army“, another that this is “A huge waste of decades of investment in the training of a general. And for what? Hubris.”
Published: Sep 7, 2026 04:58 am