WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary is still up in the air, but it is a sure bet he will look to reshape the Pentagon and pick a loyalist. During his tumultuous first term, five men held the job as Pentagon chief only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as a stopgap.
While he has yet to announce a decision, the names of potential Pentagon chiefs stretch from the well known — such as Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee — to an array of former administration loyalists, including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who held national security posts during Trump's first term.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been floated, but Trump said on social media Saturday that Pompeo would not be joining the new administration. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida had also been mentioned, but he's now been tapped to be Trump's national security adviser.
Some decisions may linger for days as candidates jostle for attention and officials wait for the final results from House races, weighing whether Republican lawmakers can be tapped or if others are a safer pick to avoid a new election for an empty congressional seat.
“The choice is going to tell us a lot about how he will deal with the Pentagon,” said Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel.
He said someone with a deep military background may not be as dramatic of a change as others who may be viewed as stronger Trump loyalists.
With a number of top jobs at the State Department, National Security Council and Defense Department up for grabs, Trump is expected to lean toward those who back his desire to end U.S. involvement in any wars, use the military to control the U.S.-Mexico border and take a hard line on Iran.
The key test, however, will be loyalty and a willingness to do whatever Trump wants, as he seeks to avoid the pushback he got from the Pentagon the first time around.
Trump's relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they weren't prepared to explain or defend.
Time after time, senior Pentagon officials — both in and out of uniform — worked to dissuade, delay or derail Trump, on issues ranging from his early demand to prohibit transgender troops from serving in the military and his announcements that he was pulling troops out of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to his push to use troops to police the border and stem civil unrest on the streets of Washington.
In his first administration, Trump hewed toward what he considered strong military men and defense industry executives. Initially enamored with generals, Trump over time found them to be not loyal enough.
“He soured on them,” Cancian said. “They were not as pliable as he had thought. ... I’ve heard people speculate that maybe the chairman would be fired. So that’s something to watch.”
Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2023 for a four-year term, but military leaders serve at the pleasure of the president. Brown, a combat pilot and just the second Black officer to serve as chairman, spoke out after the police killing of George Floyd, describing the bias he faced in his life and career.
Trump also is expected to choose someone as defense secretary with disdain for equity and diversity programs and less likely to counter his plans based on limits laid out in the Constitution and rule of law. But he also may well push for increased defense spending, at least initially, including on U.S. missile defense.
A key overriding concern is that Trump will select someone who won't push back against potentially unlawful or dangerous orders or protect the military's longstanding apolitical status.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raised that red flag. In a message to the force, he said the U.S. military stands ready to “obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command,” adding that troops swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
He echoed retired Army Gen. Mark Milley's pronouncement during a speech as he closed out four years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
“We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator,” Milley said. “We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
Trump’s first defense chief, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, learned quickly to stay off his boss’ radar by largely eliminating press conferences that Trump could see.
Mattis and Milley, along with Trump's chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general, and retired Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who also served as Joint Chiefs chairman, all worked quietly behind the scenes to temper some of Trump's decisions.
They stalled his demands that troops be quickly and completely withdrawn from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and managed to prevent the use of active-duty troops to quell civil unrest in Washington.
Two years in, Mattis abruptly resigned in December 2018 in frustration over Trump’s national security policies, including a perceived disdain for allies and his demands to pull all troops out of Syria. Patrick Shanahan, the deputy defense secretary, took over as acting Pentagon chief but withdrew as the nominee six months later due to personal family problems that were made public.
Then-Army Secretary Mark Esper took over in an acting role, but he had to step aside briefly when nominated, so Navy Secretary Richard Spencer served as the acting chief until Esper was confirmed.
Esper was fired days after Trump lost the 2020 election, largely because the president did not believe him to be loyal enough. Trump was especially angry over Esper’s public opposition to invoking the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops in the District of Columbia during unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.
Trump named Christopher Miller, a retired Army officer who has been director of the National Counterterrorism Center, to serve as acting secretary and surrounded him with staunch loyalists.
That is the Pentagon that officials quietly say they expect to see in Trump's new administration.
FILE - Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., speaks outside the hush money criminal case of former president Donald Trump in New York, May 16, 2024. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary is still up in the air, but it’s a sure bet he will look to pick a loyalist following his tumultuous first term. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, center, sits with retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, right, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Feb. 20, 2017. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary is still up in the air, but it’s a sure bet he will look to pick a loyalist following his tumultuous first term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
The masked gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” a law enforcement official said Thursday.
The gunman is still at large and a manhunt is underway.
Here's the latest:
In Minnesota, police in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, where Thompson lived, said Thursday they believe a bomb threat on Wednesday night was a hoax.
Maple Grove police put out a statement Thursday saying a “suspected swatting investigation” was underway. The department said it received a report of a bomb threat directed at two addresses around 7 p.m. CT Wednesday. The Minneapolis Bomb Squad and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office assisted, but investigators found no suspicions devices or other items.
“The case is considered an active investigation, while the incident appears to be a hoax. No further comments will be made at this time,” the police statement said.
Police reports provided to The Associated Press by the department show that officers made contact with family members at one of the homes and were told they had seen nothing suspicious and had received no direct threats.
Back in Thompson’s home state of Minnesota, authorities were investigating a bomb threat that reportedly was made against his home Wednesday night, after his death. It was first reported by TMZ.
City Prosecutor Andrew Draper confirmed to The Associated Press via email Thursday that he received an email Wednesday night “regarding a bomb threat. I reported it to the Maple Grove Police Department and do not have any additional information.”
Maple Grove police officials did not immediately respond to requests for details Thursday.
Local ATF spokesperson Ashlee Sherrill said: “ATF was made aware of the incident in Maple Grove last night, but no ATF resources were deployed. We are unable to confirm any further details.”
A local FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for information on the FBI’s involvement in the investigation.
The words emblazoned on the ammunition used in the shooting – “deny,” “defend” and “depose” – were written in permanent marker, according to a law enforcement official.
The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
— Jake Offenhartz
As of Thursday morning, police were still searching for the shooter.
They released new photos of a person they said is wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. The images match the lobby of the HI New York City hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, including its black-and-white checkered floor and a distinctive bench in the shape of a semi-circle.
An employee at the hostel said police had visited but declined to provide further information. Danielle Brumfitt, a spokesperson for the lodging, said in an emailed statement that they are cooperating with the NYPD but can’t comment due to the active investigation.
According to the official who spoke to AP about the ammunition messaging, investigators are running DNA and fingerprint analysis on items found near the shooting, including a water bottle, that they believe the suspect may have discarded. Additionally, they’re looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan.
Doctors and patients have become particularly frustrated with prior authorizations, which are requirements that an insurer approve surgery or care before it happens.
UnitedHealthcare was named in an October report detailing how the insurer’s prior authorization denial rate for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years. The report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations also named rivals Humana and CVS.
Insurers say tactics like prior authorization are needed to limit unnecessary care and help control spiraling medical costs.
Frustrations extend beyond the coverage of care. Expensive breakthrough medications to slow Alzheimer’s disease or help with obesity are frequently not covered or have coverage limits.
In the U.S. health care system, patients get coverage through a mix of private insurers such as UnitedHealthcare and government-funded programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. That can prove particularly frustrating for doctors and patients because coverage often varies by insurer.
Polls reflect those frustrations with the U.S. health care system in general and insurance companies in particular.
About two-thirds of Americans said health insurance companies deserve “a lot of blame” for high health care costs, according to a KFF poll conducted in February.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
Eric Werner, the police chief in the Minneapolis suburb where Thompson lived, said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive.
A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting — “deny,” “defend” and “depose” — echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.
The three words were emblazoned on the ammunition a masked gunman used to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. They’re similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend” — the way some attorneys describe how insurers deny services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book that was highly critical of the industry.
Police haven’t officially commented on the wording or any connection between them and the common phrase. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting a deepening frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care.
▶ Read more about the messaging left behind by the shooter
The New York Police Department released photos Thursday morning, asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the individual pictured. Police say the person is wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
A Senate panel has been investigating how frequently three major insurers, including UnitedHealthcare, deny care to patients who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. It has also investigated the use of artificial intelligence in deny those claims.
Medicare Advantage is the private version of Medicare, which provides health insurance to millions of older Americans.
The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee’s report released earlier this year found that as UnitedHealthcare relied more on its automated system to review claims denials increased for post-acute treatment, which includes nursing home or rehabilitation care. The insurer denied nearly a quarter of claims, a rate that doubled over just a two-year period from 2020 to 2022.
Joseph Kenny, the NYPD chief of detectives, says the shooter wore a black face mask, black-and-white sneakers and a distinctive gray backpack.
He arrived outside the hotel about five minutes before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson did, then waited and ignored other pedestrians before he approached Thompson from behind.
After the assailant began to fire, his 9 mm pistol jammed but he quickly fixed it and kept firing, Kenny said, another sign of the shooter’s professionalism.
“From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly,” Kenny said.
The hostels were on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and police were following a tip that the suspect may have stayed at one of the residences, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing search.
According to an employee of Kama Central Park, two detectives arrived at the hostel at 7 a.m. Thursday with a photo of the shooter and asked staff if they recognized the man. They did not, the employee said, and the detectives left soon after. An employee at the nearby HI New York City hostel also confirmed that police had visited the location Thursday, but declined to provide further information.
— Jake Offenhartz
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday the shooter used a silencer — something he’d never encountered in his 22 years as a police officer.
“In all of my years in law enforcement I have never seen a silencer before,” Adams, a retired NYPD captain, said in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “And so that was really something that was shocking to us all.”
The masked gunman used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” a law enforcement official said Thursday. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The words on the ammunition may have been a reference to strategies insurance companies use to try to avoid paying claims.
Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny had said earlier.
— Mike Balsamo, Jake Offenhartz and Michael R. Sisak
The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest insurers, was killed Wednesday in midtown Manhattan in what police described as a targeted attack by a shooter outside a hotel where the company was holding a conference.
▶ Read more about the key things to know about the fatal attack
Flags fly at half mast in front of UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024, after its CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP)
This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)
