President Donald Trump‘s Army Secretary has vowed he will not resign despite his clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Speculation has been mounting that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll may be next on Hegseth’s chopping block following last week’s abrupt ouster of his ally, General Randy George, amid the contentious war in Iran.
Driscoll has disagreed with Hegseth on a number of issues recently, including the Defense Secretary’s moves to block the promotion of several Army officers, officials told the Washington Post.
But Driscoll denied that he is planning to resign or otherwise leave his role at the Pentagon.
‘Serving under President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime, and I remain laser-focused on providing America with the strongest land-fighting force the world has ever seen,’ he said in a statement to the Post.
‘I have no plans to depart or resign as the Secretary of the Army.’
The White House also appeared to back Driscoll, who has been friends with Vice President JD Vance since law school, while touting the Army’s efforts in Iran.
Spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the outlet the president has ‘effectively restored a focus on readiness and lethality across our military with the help of leaders like Secretary Driscoll.’
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll (pictured) has vowed that he will not resign from his position
Driscoll has disagreed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a number of issues recently
‘The extraordinary talent of the United States Army is on full display as our warfighters meet or exceed all of their benchmarks under Operation Epic Fury and Iran’s military capabilities diminish more every day,’ she added.
Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, also disputed assertions that there was any tension between his boss and Driscoll.
‘Secretary Hegseth maintains excellent working relationships with the secretaries of every military service branch, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll,’ he told the Daily Mail.
He added that Hegseth and Vance, who served in the Marines during the Iraq War, are ‘fully aligned in executing President Trump’s America First agenda’ and that they ‘work seamlessly together and share a strong mutual respect.’
But behind the scenes, sources said Hegseth has been worried Driscoll would replace him ever since the infamous March 2025 group chat fiasco.
‘This is all driven by the insecurity and paranoia that Pete has developed since Signal-gate. Unfortunately, it is stoked by some of his closest aides who should be trying to calm the waters,’ one official previously told the New York Post.
By the fall, Driscoll had reportedly become concerned enough about his deteriorating relationship with Hegseth that he sought assistance from Vance, three people familiar with the situation told the Washington Post.
Another administration official, who remained anonymous, said that if Driscoll were to be fired, Parnell is ‘pushing himself’ to replace him.
‘Sean is focused on the job he has now, as is Army Secretary Driscoll,’ a senior Pentagon official told The Daily Mail.
‘It wouldn’t be out of line to speculate that Sean would be considered as a successor as he is one of the highest profile Army veterans serving at the top of [the] Department right now, but both men are focused on serving the President and doing the job they have now.’
Speculation that Driscoll may be fired from his position mounted after his ally, General Randy George (pictured in 2023) was ousted last week
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell (pictured) is reportedly ‘pushing himself’ to replace Driscoll
As the Pentagon spokesman and aide to Hegseth, Parnell has championed his boss’s disdain for the media and was tasked with overseeing a review of the US’s hasty departure from Afghanistan.
Parnell previously ran for a House seat in Pennsylvania in 2020, losing narrowly, and for Senate the following year.
He was then endorsed by Trump, but suspended his campaign amid a legal dispute with his estranged wife.
One senior Pentagon official who was pushing for Parnell to take over cited his combat experience as an infantry platoon leader in Afghanistan about 20 years ago.
The official argued to the Washington Post that Driscoll focused too much on his political future instead of his role managing soldiers’ training and equipment.
Three others, though, disputed the suggestion that Driscoll has been performing poorly in the role.
One said Driscoll, who worked in venture capital and led an Army cavalry scout platoon during the Iraq War, has ‘made a ton of institutional changes and stayed out of things that the military shouldn’t touch, especially with culture wars.’
Driscoll has worked closely with George, even traveling with him last year to gather lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. Driscoll is pictured in November speaking with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky
Yet those familiar with the situation say Driscoll intervened when Hegseth previously tried to fire General George, who was confirmed by the Senate in 2023.
The general had long been seen as a target for firing within the Trump administration not only because he was selected to lead the Army by the previous administration, but also because he served as a senior military assistant to former President Joe Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd Austin.
George has also spoken out in favor of diversity training for military personnel, telling lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that it is just one component in a broader effort to build cohesive teams.
During his tenure, he worked closely with Driscoll, who reportedly backed the general’s effort to continually experiment with and adopt drones and other emerging technology.
The two even traveled to Ukraine last year in an effort to gather lessons learned from the war.
‘There have been multiple instances where Secretary Hegseth has tried to remove George and Driscoll has said, “No he’s done nothing wrong. He’s good,”‘ one official said, adding that the Army Secretary ‘has been very clear that merit should speak for itself.’
But on Thursday, the decorated general was asked to retire early during a phone call with the defense secretary.
Just a few minutes later, Hegseth’s decision to oust George leaked to CBS News, the first outlet to report on the matter, effectively preventing Driscoll from once again trying to save George’s career before the decision was publicized.
Driscoll has reportedly intervened in the past when Hegseth tried to fire George (pictured)
The general disagreed with Hegseth’s decision to quash an investigation into the two Apache helicopters that were seen hovering over Kid Rock’s home
It remains unclear exactly why George was removed from his position.
But his ouster came after he faced two major issues: Hegseth’s decision to block the promotion of two black and two female officers to one-star generals and the controversial appearance of Apache helicopters outside Kid Rock’s home.
Sources told the Washington Post that George tried to meet with Hegseth to discuss the blocked promotion, but was rebuffed.
Meanwhile, the incident involving Kid Rock, a fervent Trump supporter, led to an investigation, with the Army deciding to ground the two helicopter crews involved.
Hegseth, however, quickly rescinded the suspension of the helicopter crews and quashed the probe.
George, who had more than 40 years of experience in the Army, had been in favor of letting the investigation play out, two people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.
‘It shouldn’t be a surprise that a man who enlisted at the age of 18, later commissioned as an officer and spent his entire adult life in the military would be committed to standards and discipline,’ one official said.
Yet George was not the only high-level Army official that has been fired in recent days, with the Pentagon confirming to the Daily Mail that General David Hodne, head of the Army Transformation and Training Command and Major General William Green Jr, the head of the Army’s chaplain corps were also let go.
Trump announced Tuesday night that Iranian officials agreed to a two-week ceasefire and will re-open the Strait of Hormuz
Hodne ran a department started by Biden-appointed General George, who was told to step down and take immediate retirement, CBS News reported.
A Pentagon official said: ‘We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army.’
The terminations came amid the war in Iran, before Trump announced Tuesday night that Iranian officials agreed to a two-week ceasefire and will re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
He posted on Truth Social, ‘I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,’ after earlier sparking doomsday fears when he threatened to wipe out its ‘entire civilization’ if they did not reopen the Strait.
The President said that after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif he had been assured that Iran will agree ‘to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.’
‘This will be a double-sided ceasefire,’ Trump wrote. ‘The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran.’
Israel also agreed to halt attacks on Iran for two weeks, a senior White House official told Axios, with the ceasefire taking effect once the Strait of Hormuz is re-opened.
Iranian officials said that the ceasefire was approved by the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, despite intelligence reports which say he is in a coma.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the truce and that ‘safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible’ during the two-week period.
Trump said that the 10-point proposal ‘is a workable basis on which to negotiate,’ despite saying on Monday that the deal was not ‘good enough.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Army, the Pentagon and the White House for comment.
