Senior US military official resigns over disagreements with Hegseth

The US military itself reports that Army Secretary Dan Driskill has submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump over tensions with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War. Driskill is an Army veteran and long-time friend of Vice President J.D. Vance. There had been much speculation over friction between the two. US media is reporting they didn't see eye to eye on issues of Army transformation and readiness. So, for more, it's a pleasure to welcome John Sitilides, former US State Department diplomacy consultant and a senior fellow for global risks at the Center for the National Interest, joining us now from Washington. Thank you so much for your time. So, it certainly seems like a significant setback just over 6 months into this war. Right now, US strikes on Iranian targets happening as we speak, but if we look at what's happening within the military, what does Dan Driskill's resignation tell us about the state of leadership right now? How serious is this rift between Pete Hegseth and the Army leadership? >> Driskill, thank you for having me, Benita. And against the backdrop of the war in Iran, yes, this seems far more complex than might otherwise be the case, but in actuality, we have been awaiting for Dan Driskill to resign from the Defense Department for a Secretary of the Army pretty much since April of this past year into the war, and it has less to do with what is happening in the Persian Gulf and against Iran and much more, as you correctly note, what is happening inside the Department of, I'd say, Defense, Department of War, as we call it now, in terms of both transformation and readiness on the one hand and also logistics and pre-positioning on the other. And uh I think Pete Hegseth has been very much concerned, whether these are accurate reports or not, This is what we're getting from the open-source media that there has been a sense of independence on the part of uh Secretary Driskill. Remember that he met with uh Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on his own without clearing it first with his own boss. Of course, several days ago, uh meeting with President Trump directly, going over the head again of his boss, the Secretary of War. This kind of independence, some might call insubordination, however meritorious the uh pursuit, the objectives that Secretary Driskill had been undertaken. >> Certainly interesting developments indeed, but there is already much speculation over a possible shortage of munitions now with senior army commanders already removed and the army secretary leaving, how is this kind of turnover likely to impact military readiness if there is a prolonged war with Iran? >> Of course, that remains to be seen. We do have a number of very capable officials who will be serving in acting positions, but just the way we have a number of embassies around the world where we don't have uh fully sworn in, fully appointed ambassadors, but charges d'affaires, second in command, but not with the sort of full diplomatic status that ambassadors require. We have a similar situation now with the Department of War where we don't have Senate confirmed secretaries. We may be losing the Under Secretary of the Army now, Dave Fitzgerald. We have also the Chief of the Army who uh was let go by uh Hexeth. And so, we do have a leadership issue within the army itself. I think also the larger issue of munitions is going to be a central issue given the lessons that we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the degree to which uh Secretary Driskill and his team were looking really to again modernize and transform drone procurement and acquisition, learning the lessons from Ukraine. And then several months ago, we see that Secretary of War Hixeth had called for a centralization of all drone development across the services, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, so that the services would not be acting independently and perhaps less than fully efficiently in pursuing this new type of warfare. >> Very briefly then, from your perspective, Donald Trump doesn't seem to be in a rush to secure a deal. The situation in the Strait is precarious. Strikes happening right now. The midterms loom large. What is the end game here for the United States? Briefly, please. >> Well, if we hear the president accurately from February 28th, and sometimes I think we've lost sight of this, it still remains no nuclear weapons for Iran. The problem is that we had a series of miscalculations that have led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Now a slow down of shipments out of Hormuz, not a full closure anymore, but certainly not where we were pre- uh attack on Iran, February 27th. And I think A, we have to get the Strait of Hormuz fully open again to get it not only oil and LNG, but petrochemicals and fertilizers and the like to global markets, but we have to get back to the original objective, and that is ensuring that we never have a nuclear arsenal in the hands of the IRGC, which right now, according to Secretary Bessant at Treasury, means maybe we have to achieve regime collapse in Tehran before we can secure the nuclear arsenal objectives. >> So, appreciate your insights. Fascinating developments unfolding right now as we speak live from Washington. John Sitilides, thank you very much for being with us on The Rundown. Thank you, John. >> Thank you.