After unveiling two “very big” nominations, President Trump also teased an upcoming announcement on Friday about positions on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his top team of top uniformed military advisers.
“I have another one for tomorrow I will be announcing at the Army-Navy game. It will have to do with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and succession. I look forward to telling you, and I will see you later,” Trump said as he was leaving the White House for a trip to Kansas City, Mo.
Trump will attend — and reportedly officiate over — the coin toss at the football rivalry between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army Black Knights Saturday afternoon.
During his comments Friday, the president also said he will nominate William Barr to serve as attorney general and Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
But the Joint Chiefs teaser left a bit of a mystery.
Both the chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, and the vice chairman, Gen. Paul Selva, are set to finish out their two-year terms next year. But the end of each term remains months into the future.
Either officer could choose to leave earlier and a replacement would be needed. Both positions are nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
Leading contenders to replace Dunford are Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, and Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff.
Those two generals are among the military service chiefs who make up the Joint Chiefs. And if either moves into the chairman spot, or less likely, the vice chairman spot, it would leave another opening to be filled and cause a significant shakeup within the military body.
