Having received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War and now assisted by a Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who left the National Guard in 2021 after being flagged over religious identitarian tattoos that were associated with supremacist groups, President Donald Trump has a problem with his military. Over the past two years, he has checked off every box that defines a dysfunctional relationship, in ways that pose serious risks. And this comes at a time when his administration is asking Congress to approve a record defense budget, equivalent to €1 trillion, for 2027.

The first problem: purges. When, at the end of September, Hegseth announced a further 20% reduction in the US military's number of generals and admirals, he drew criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum. While cutting jobs in a two-million-strong professional military might be justifiable, the administration has launched a witch hunt, seeking to politicize the military apparatus in a way that only benefits the president. Though he did not name Trump, General Mark Milley, who served as chair of the joint chiefs of staff until 2023, denounced a "wannabe dictator" in his farewell speech, after having condemned Trump supporters' assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The administration is now taking its revenge.

In the latest case, General Christopher Donahue was barred from becoming chair of the joint chiefs of staff or head of the US forces in Europe, according to an investigation by the New York Times. While Donahue had served with distinction in every conflict he fought in, he had the misfortune of being photographed while boarding a plane in Kabul as the US withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. The withdrawal was ignominious, and the image of him, the last American soldier to leave Afghan soil, flooded social media platforms. Trump could not tolerate the hero's fame and dismissed him for being "too powerful, independent and connected," wrote the New York Times.