United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, alongside Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore and Rear Admiral Milton Sands. The firings followed an initial DIA assessment that concluded US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June inflicted limited damage, contradicting President Donald Trump's claims that the sites were totally destroyed. Kruse led the DIA since early 2024 and previously served as adviser for military affairs for the director of national intelligence and as director of intelligence for the coalition against ISIL. All three officers said they did not know why they were fired. The removals form part of a broader purge at the Department of Defense.
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency's preliminary intelligence assessment angered President Donald Trump for reporting that the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites in June had inflicted limited damage, according to reports. The Pentagon firings on Friday, which, according to US officials who spoke to the Reuters and Associated Press (AP) news agencies, also include two other senior military commanders, are the latest moves by the Trump administration to purge officials at the Department of Defense .
It was not immediately known on what grounds Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since early 2024, was fired. But President Trump had previously decried the agency's initial findings on US strikes against Iran. The initial DIA assessment which was widely reported on by US media contradicted claims by Trump that the strikes totally destroyed the nuclear sites, drawing the ire of both the president and officials within his administration.
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