Pentagon discusses Trump's 'overhaul plan'

Pentagon officials are informally discussing how to respond to potential changes once Mr. Trump officially takes over the White House.

Many officials believe that Mr. Trump will avoid repeating the tense relationship with the military as in his previous term - Photo: GETTY

Trump's relationship with many senior leaders in the US military during his previous term was not good. For example, with retired General Mark Milley - who took steps to limit Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump has criticized many military generals as "too trendy", "weak" and "ineffective leaders". According to CNN, Trump has declared his willingness to use active duty forces to enforce domestic laws and fired a series of civilian employees. The president-elect has indicated that he wants to put loyalists in the federal government and "clean up the corrupt" in the US national security agency. Defense officials spoke to CNN that there are currently many proposed scenarios to prepare for an "overhaul" of the Pentagon. Many defense officials are concerned about Trump's plan to use the military to deal with internal US problems. Last month, Mr. Trump suggested that the military should be deployed to deal with what he called the "enemy within" and "left-wing extremists." A former defense official who served under Mr. Trump said it was possible that active-duty forces would be deployed to assist with customs and protect the southern border. It was also possible that these forces would be deployed to cities across the country to support Mr. Trump's plans for mass deportations of immigrants. Mr. Trump's victory also raised questions within the Pentagon about what would happen if the president issued an illegal order. "By law, the military is not required to follow illegal orders. But the question is what happens after that order. Will senior military leaders resign? Or will they think resigning is abandoning their subordinates?" a defense official told CNN. It is still unclear who Trump will choose to lead the Pentagon, but officials believe the president-elect and his team will try to avoid a repeat of the "hostile" relationship with the military that characterized his previous term, a former defense official with experience in the previous Trump administration said. The military is also trying to identify civilian employees who could be affected if Trump restores a 2020 executive order classifying civilian employees nationwide. Speaking on November 5, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized that he "has full confidence that America's leaders will continue to do the right thing no matter what happens. I also believe that our Congress will continue to do the right thing to support our military."

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