Dan Driscoll’s Parting Shot

D uring a White House meeting last week , Army Secretary Dan Driscoll brought his concerns about the future of the Army under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directly to President Trump—a sign of how far tensions between the two Pentagon leaders had escalated, and of the dysfunction inside the building, four people familiar with the conversation told us.

Trump was surprised when Driscoll told him how many generals and other top officers had been fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotion under Hegseth, one of the people said.

Driscoll argued that the Army could not transform itself the way it needs to because of the departure of so many leaders, this person said, adding that Trump expressed concern about the deep cuts to the Army’s senior leadership.

Driscoll informed the president of his intention to resign—and by today, Driscoll was on his way out.

Hegseth’s purge of the military has been so dramatic that with Driscoll gone, the military’s largest service is left without a top civilian leader, a Senate-confirmed top general, a confirmed Army general in charge of operations, training and planning, or a confirmed commander of Army troops in Europe.

Because of all the firings across the service over the past year, the Army, with more than 450,000 active-duty soldiers positioned across the globe, has fewer generals than at any point in recent history.

Driscoll’s personal appeal to Trump just days before his exit was the most direct articulation of high-level concerns among Pentagon leaders about the strains facing the force—from Hegseth’s intervention in Army personnel decisions to the mounting demands of the Iran war.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that Driscoll had been “highly effective” in improving soldier readiness and advancing other administration priorities.

“The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War,” Kelly said in a statement, using the administration’s preferred term for the Department of Defense.

Driscoll’s spokesman declined to comment and Driscoll did not respond to a call seeking comment.

But a person familiar with his resignation told us that Driscoll had “brought up concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the Generals who were responsible.” Hegseth did not have an immediate response to Driscoll’s departure. [ Read: The military Pete Hegseth wants ] Since his arrival at the Pentagon early last year, Hegseth—a former Fox News host who appealed to Trump loyalists by deriding a “woke” military and advocating for leniency for troops charged with war crimes—has sought to reshape the Army.