Hegseth Fires Head Of Pentagon Intelligence Agency, Other Senior Officials: Know Why

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed the head of the Pentagon’s intelligence agency and two other senior military commanders, according to Reuters. The decision marks the latest in a series of sweeping purges by President Donald Trump’s administration at the Pentagon.

Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), was among those fired.

Officials also confirmed that Hegseth ordered the removal of the chief of US Naval Reserves and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command. 

Senator Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticised the move, saying it shows the administration is treating intelligence as a “loyalty test” instead of a safeguard for national security.

This is not the first shake-up under Trump. Earlier this year, Hegseth dismissed Air Force General CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with several other senior officers.

In April, Trump also fired the director of the National Security Agency, General Timothy Haugh, and more than a dozen officials from the National Security Council.

Reports suggest Kruse’s firing may be linked to a leaked DIA assessment that contradicted Trump’s claim about US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The report, which said the strikes had set back Tehran’s program by only a few months, angered the White House. Trump called the media outlets that published it “fake news.”

The Trump administration has defended the removals as part of a broader effort to cut the size of the government and prevent what it calls the “politicization of intelligence.”

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