Jeffrey Kruse “No longer assumes the functions of Dia director [Defense Intelligence Agency] », The United States Military Intelligence Agency said a senior military official on Friday August 22, on condition of anonymity. He did not advance any reason but this dismissal occurs shortly after the publication of a report that has greatly displeased Donald Trump.
In this document, the services of Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who had held his post since the beginning of 2024, estimated that the strikes carried out in June by the United States in Iran had delayed the nuclear program of Tehran several years. This report, whose press has echoed, differs significantly from the claims of Donald Trump, who hammers that the attacks in question have completely destroyed the targeted sites.
Another official, who requested anonymity, said that two other senior officials, the vice-admiral of squadron Nancy Lacore, head of the Navy reserve, and the counterattack Milton Sands, also left their functions.
Fear of an army politicization
Since his return to power, Donald Trump has presided over the dismissal of multiple senior Pentagon officials, starting with the chief of staff of the armies, Charles Brown, thanked in February without explanation. The Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth, a faithful of the president, defends the right of the latter to choose army leaders as he sees fit, but elected democrats were worried about a possible politicization of the latter.
Pete Hegseth had led the counterattack after the military intelligence report on Iran strikes circulated in the press. According to him, the document “Leaves because someone wants to try to (…) Make it believe that these historic strikes were not a success ”.
Donald Trump, that his former chief of staff, General Mark Cany, had described as“Aspiring dictator”made loyalty the main criterion to recruit his second mandate. He also applies this logic to the army, historically neutral, for which he has an unconted fascination. The American president, for example, organized a rare military parade on June 14 in Washington, which has marked 250 years since the creation of the American army, and which also happens to be that of his birthday. He deployed the National Guard, a reserve corps, in Los Angeles and then in Washington.
Several senior civilians have also been dismissed by the 79 -year -old billionaire. Donald Trump, for example, has recently returned the director of the main employment statistics agency after the publication of bad figures on the job market, and he appointed EJ Antoni, an economist who is faithful to him.