HEGSETH: NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Four-star commanders of major U.S. military commands involved in active attacks don’t just step down less than a year into a job without a reason. But from Pete Hegseth’s laudatory post on X, one might think nothing unusual was happening.
“On behalf of the Department of War, we extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation as he plans to retire at year’s end. A native of Fort Valley, Georgia, Admiral Holsey has exemplified the highest standards of naval leadership,” Hegseth posted on X. “Admiral Holsey has demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation. His tenure as Military Deputy Commander and now Commander of United States Southern Command reflects a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision.”
The sudden resignation of one of the few remaining black four-star generals one year into a three-year term, comes amid a buildup of some 10,000 U.S. military forces in the region, a series of aerial attacks on suspected drug smuggling speedboats, and an authorization for the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration has designated as the de facto leader of the Cartel of the Suns, and an illegitimate leader who has “usurped power.”
Halsey gave no reason for his retirement in a statement posted on X by the U.S. Southern Command, saying only that ‘it was an honor to serve,” and praising his personnel for their “lasting contributions to the defense of our nation.”
SOUTHCOM COMMANDER WHO OVERSAW DRUG BOAT STRIKES RESIGNS
THE REST OF THE STORY: Pentagon reporters, just days after turning in their press credentials in protest of Hegseth’s new media restrictions, immediately began pinging their sources to find out what was going on.
“Two people familiar with the matter said Hegseth had grown disenchanted with Holsey and wanted him to step aside,” the Washington Post reported. “The scrutiny began about a month ago — around the time that the Trump administration began ordering deadly strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.”
“Officials at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill said the praise masked real policy tensions concerning Venezuela that the admiral and his civilian boss were seeking to paper over,” the New York Times reported. “One current and one former U.S. official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that Admiral Holsey had raised concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats.”
Holsey’s retirement comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill have continued to raise questions about the legal basis for the attacks on boats that have killed at least 27 people. “Inside the Pentagon, military lawyers and other officials have raised concerns centering on the basis for the strikes themselves as well as the legal implications for U.S. military personnel involved in the operations,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Some defense officials have provided written and verbal legal opinions to decision makers at the Pentagon, but think they are being deliberately sidelined.”
REED: ‘AN ALARMING SIGNAL OF INSTABILITY’: “Prior to Trump, I can’t think of a combatant commander who left his or her post early, ever,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told the New York Times.
“This unexpected resignation is troubling,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “At a moment when U.S. forces are building up across the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela are at a boiling point, the departure of our top military commander in the region sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command.”
“Admiral Holsey’s resignation only deepens my concern that this administration is ignoring the hard-earned lessons of previous U.S. military campaigns and the advice of our most experienced warfighters,” Reed said. “Any operation to intervene militarily in Venezuela – especially without congressional authorization – would be unwise and dangerous.”
In a separate statement, earlier this week, Reed criticized the Pentagon’s unprecedented restrictions instituted by Hegseth to limit unauthorized leaks to the press. “This ongoing effort to censor the Pentagon press corps is an affront to the U.S. military’s proud tradition of accountability and to the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment,” Reed said. “A free and fair press is essential to our nation, but Secretary Hegseth is attempting to shut down independent reporting with these coercive restrictions.”
SURVIVORS REPORTED AFTER LATEST U.S. MILITARY STRIKE ON SUSPECTED VENEZUELAN DRUG CARTEL BOAT
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
HAPPENING TODAY: TRUMP AND ZELENSKY MEET: According to the White House schedule, President Donald Trump has set aside two hours to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today before jetting off to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. How much of that time will be in public in the presence of reporters? We don’t know.
Trump upended expectations again yesterday when he announced that he talked by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin and, in a Truth Social post, said he believed “great progress was made,” and that the two leaders “spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over.”
“President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end,” Trump said.
Later, in a back-and-forth with reporters, Trump indicated a series of meetings would begin “pretty quick,” culminating with a summit with Putin hosted by Hungarian President Victor Orban. “You know, look, it’s only a deal. That’s all I’ve done in my whole life. I’ve made deals. I know about deals. I do it well,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to have this one done, hopefully, soon. But I’ll be meeting him probably over the next two weeks.”
“[Secretary of State] Marco Rubio is going to be meeting with his counterpart, as you know, [Sergey] Lavrov, and they’ll be meeting pretty soon,” Trump said. “But I’ll be meeting with President Putin, and we’ll make a determination.”
Trump also revived the idea of a Putin-Zelensky meeting, something Putin has rejected in the past. “I mean, we have a problem. They don’t get along too well, those two, and it’s sometimes tough to have meetings. So, we may do something where we’re separate, but separate but equal.”
“This is a terrible relationship the two of them have, and it’s one of those things.”
TRUMP AND PUTIN AGREE TO MEET IN HUNGARY TO END ‘INGLORIOUS’ WAR IN UKRAINE
THE TOMAHAWK THREAT: Zelensky arrived in Washington yesterday and met with leaders of American energy companies and U.S. weapons manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, makers of the Patriot missiles that Ukraine desperately wants more of.
Zelensky greeted the news that Trump had spoken at length with Putin with the observations that the Russian leader only responds to the “language of force.”
“We already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue, just hearing about ‘Tomahawks,’” he said in a post on X. “We hope that the momentum of curbing terror and war, which worked in the Middle East, will help end the Russian war against Ukraine.”
Trump told reporters he joked about sending Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine during his call with Putin. “You have to be a little bit lighthearted sometimes,” he said. “I did actually say, ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand Tomahawks to your opposition?’ I did say that to him. I said it just that way. He didn’t like the idea. He really didn’t like the idea.”
Trump, after floating the idea of selling to NATO the long-range missiles capable of hitting targets deep into Russia for use by Ukraine, now seems to be cooling to the idea. “Tomahawk is a vicious weapon. It’s a vicious, offensive, and incredibly destructive weapon. Nobody wants Tomahawks shot at them,” he told reporters.
“You know, we need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too. We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t deplete for our country. So, you know, they’re very vital, they’re very powerful, they’re very accurate, they’re very good. But we need them, too. So, I don’t know what we can do about that,” he said.
GAZA TRIUMPH REKINDLES TRUMP’S INTEREST IN A UKRAINE PEACE DEAL
THE BOLTON INDICTMENT: Former national security adviser John Bolton, a fervent Trump critic, is vowing to fight an 18-count indictment that accuses him of storing top secret records at his home and sharing with relatives his firsthand diary he kept in an email account that was hacked in 2021.
“From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position a National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level,” according to the 26-page indictment.
“BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOPSECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.”
“I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said in response, according to a post on X by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct. Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”
“When my email was hacked in 2021, the FBI was made fully aware. In four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed,” Bolton said. “Then came Trump 2, who embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said, ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.’”
FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JOHN BOLTON INDICTED
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Trump and Putin agree to meet in Hungary to end ‘inglorious’ war in Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Trump-Putin call dashes Zelensky’s hopes of Tomahawks from the US
Washington Examiner: Zelensky speaks with US weapons and energy companies ahead of Trump meeting
Washington Examiner: Gaza triumph rekindles Trump’s interest in a Ukraine peace deal
Washington Examiner: SOUTHCOM commander who oversaw drug boat strikes resigns
Washington Examiner: Survivors reported after latest U.S. military strike on suspected Venezuelan drug cartel boat
Washington Examiner: Senate heads home after Democrats dash Thune’s latest shutdown strategy
Washington Examiner: Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton indicted
Washington Examiner: Appeals Court blocks Trump’s National Guard deployment to Chicago
Washington Examiner: ICE arrests illegal immigrant serving as Chicago-area police officer
Washington Examiner: Foreign State Department adviser held over 1,000 ‘top secret’ documents in home
Washington Examiner: Hamas says it doesn’t have any more hostage remains to hand over
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Ukraine is holding Russian forces back
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Is Trump’s national security strategy really that important?
Washington Examiner: Delay-prone F-35 program was led by DEI advocates, rewarded by Biden for late deliveries
Washington Examiner: Colorado aids federal workers as shutdown hits week three
Wall Street Journal: Venezuela Mobilizes Troops and Militias as US Military Looms Offshore
Reuters: In a First, US Strike in Caribbean Leaves Survivors, US Official Says
Air & Space Forces Magazine: B-52s Fly Near Venezuela as US Boosts Military Presence
NPR: Hegseth Orders Troops to Watch His Speech Decrying a ‘Woke’ Military
Breaking Defense: Netherlands Joins US for Drone Wingmen Development
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force May Test New Counter-Drone Weapons Next Year: Industry Reps
Axios: Lockheed “Progressing Toward” Flight Test of Extreme-Range Missile
Space News: ‘Space Armor’ to Challenge Traditional Metal Shielding on Satellites
Task & Purpose: FE Warren Security Forces Commander Holds All-Hands Meetings After Four Deaths
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Could Modified Pave Hawks Help the Air Force Support Agile Combat Employment?
Air & Space Forces Magazine: First Operational Test Launch of Minuteman I
Air Force Times: DOD Decides Against Privatizing Service Members’ Household Goods Moves
Stars and Stripes: Computer ‘Glitch’ Delays Higher-Ed Payments for Veterans’ Dependents and Survivors
Defense News: Buffalo Chicken, Thai, and Cuban Food Coming to the MRE Lineup in 2026
THE CALENDAR:
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 17
9 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “What Is North Korea Strategy?” with Glenn Chafetz, director, 2430 Group; retired South Korean Lt. Gen. In-bum Chun; Bruce Klingner, senior fellow, Mansfield Foundation; Dr. Taerim Lee, visiting Scholar, Institute for Korean Studies, George Washington University; and Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific Security chair, Hudson Institute https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-is-north-koreas-strategy
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Iran’s Nuclear Crossroads: Strategic Risks and Diplomatic Dilemmas,” with Sarah Burkhard, senior research associate, Institute for Science and International Security; and Olli Heinonen, fellow, 38 North https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/
12 p.m. — Foreign Policy virtual discussion: “What’s Next for the Palestinians?” with Diana Buttu, Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization; and Ravi Agrawal, editor in chief, Foreign Policy https://foreignpolicy.com/live/diana-buttu-next-for-palestinians/
MONDAY | OCTOBER 20
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Defense and Security Department and the U.S. Naval Institute virtual discussion: “Submarines in an Era of Renewed Great Power Competition,” with Vice Adm. Robert “Rob” Gaucher, commander, Naval Submarine Forces, commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet;aCommander, Allied Submarine Command; retired Rear Adm. Raymond Spicer, CEO and publisher, U.S. Naval Institute; and Seth Jones, president, CSIS DSD https://www.csis.org/events/submarines-era-renewed-great-power-competition
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 29
11 a.m. Charlottesville, Virginia — University of Virginia Miller Center in-person and virtual discussion: “AI, national security, and democratic accountability,” with Ashley Deeks, Miller Center faculty senior fellow, and vice dean of the University of Virginia School of Law; Brian Lessenberry, senior national security practitioner; and Philip Potter, Miller Center faculty senior fellow https://millercenter.org/news-events/events/ai-national-security-and-democratic-accountability
