The Cracks Are Showing: Trump Is Losing the Military He Tried to Politicize

For years, Donald Trump has treated the United States military as something that should bend to his personal political will.

But now, deep into his second administration and months into a grinding war with Iran, something inside the military establishment appears to be cracking.

This is not a military coup. It is not a coordinated rebellion against the commander in chief. And despite viral posts claiming otherwise, there is no evidence that hundreds of generals have suddenly resigned en masse.

The reality is more complicated.

And frankly, it may be more important.

What we're watching is growing tension between the Trump administration and the institution it has spent years trying to reshape: experienced officers being pushed out, military families publicly lashing out, disputes over strategy and readiness, and a Pentagon increasingly obsessed with loyalty.

The Purge of Military Leadership

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spent months reshaping senior military leadership.

In April, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George was forced out more than a year before his term was expected to end. Other senior officers were removed alongside him.

Then came Gen. Christopher Donahue.

Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and one of the country's most experienced combat commanders, prepared to retire after an internal effort to extend his career failed. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth had effectively blocked that effort, frustrating Army officials who considered Donahue one of the service's best warfighters.

This isn't happening in a vacuum.

The administration has removed or sidelined numerous senior officers while attempting to remake military leadership around its priorities.

That doesn't look like an institution comfortably marching in one direction.

It looks like an institution under enormous political pressure.

Then Came the Iran War

The war with Iran has turned that pressure into something much more dangerous.

More than 750 American troops have been wounded since the war began, according to the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, reports from the USS Abraham Lincoln have described brutal conditions during its extraordinarily long deployment, including supply problems and serious concerns about the physical and mental health of sailors.

Military families aren't staying quiet about it.

Families of sailors aboard deployed ships have publicly condemned Trump and Hegseth for dismissing accounts of what their loved ones are experiencing.

Think about what that means.

These aren't protesters standing outside the Pentagon.

These are families of Americans currently serving their country saying the administration isn't listening to the people actually carrying out its war.

Trump Is Even Fighting With His Own Pentagon

The fractures aren't limited to uniformed personnel.

The Washington Post reported this month that Trump confronted Hegseth over severe munitions shortages connected to the Iran conflict, demanding answers about why the problem had not been resolved.

The White House denied that the confrontation occurred.

But the broader readiness concerns aren't going away.

The United States is simultaneously sustaining military operations abroad, dealing with wounded service members, maintaining global commitments and navigating an increasingly unstable international environment.

And instead of stability at the Pentagon, we're watching leadership shakeups and political battles.

Even Military Journalism Is Becoming a Battlefield

Then there's Stars and Stripes.

The Pentagon has fired editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer and reporter Lara Korte. Slavin says he was fired for insubordination after publicly defending the editorial independence of the military newspaper.

The dismissals followed intense scrutiny surrounding reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

That matters because Stars and Stripes isn't some random political blog.

It has reported to and for American service members for generations while maintaining editorial independence from the military hierarchy.

When an administration starts fighting with the newspaper read by its own troops, that tells you something about the atmosphere inside the institution.

And Now the Midterms Are Looming

There is another enormous question hanging over all of this.

What happens if Trump tries to involve the military in the 2026 elections?

Sen. Elissa Slotkin recently asked Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine to explicitly commit that American military forces will not be deployed to polling locations or used to seize election materials during the midterms.

Federal law severely restricts armed federal forces at polling places.

That request shouldn't even need to be made.

The American military swears an oath to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Republicans, Democrats or any political movement.

And that distinction could become enormously important over the next several months.

No, the Military Hasn't "Turned on Trump." But Something Is Happening.

We need to be careful with the language here.

There is no evidence of some coordinated military revolt against Donald Trump.

There is no evidence that 300 generals suddenly resigned.

Trump remains commander in chief, and the military remains under civilian control.

But pretending everything is normal would be equally misleading.

Senior officers have been removed or pushed toward the exits. Military families are speaking publicly about conditions facing their loved ones. Questions about readiness and depleted munitions are spilling into public view. The Pentagon is battling its own military newspaper. And lawmakers are asking military leaders, before a major national election, to reaffirm boundaries that should be unquestionable.

Those are cracks.

And authoritarian politics has always had a fundamental problem with professional institutions: institutions have rules, traditions and obligations that exist independently of one man's wishes.

The United States military is not Donald Trump's personal army.

Its members do not swear an oath to MAGA.

They swear an oath to the Constitution.

Trump can fire generals. Hegseth can reshape leadership. They can attack journalists and demand loyalty from political appointees.

But there is one line that matters more than all the others.

The military serves the United States of America.

Not the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

And as the pressure on America's armed forces grows, that distinction may become one of the most consequential tests of Trump's presidency.

- Sean

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