How a Trump presidency could lead to a purge at the Pentagon

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

48% : Trump vowed during the campaign to give himself the power to gut the federal workforce across the government.
46% : Current and former U.S. officials say Trump will prioritize loyalty in his second term and root out military officers and career civil servants he perceives to be disloyal.
39% : Trump was asked by Fox News in June whether he would fire generals described as "woke," a term for those focused on racial and social justice but which is used by conservatives to disparage progressive policies.
39% : You can't have (a) woke military," Trump said.
37% : A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there was increasing concern within the Pentagon that Trump would purge career civilian employees from the department.
34% : During the campaign, Trump pledged to restore the name of a Confederate general to a major U.S. military base, reversing a change made after Floyd's killing.
25% : But some experts caution that Trump has wide latitude to interpret the law and U.S. troops cannot disobey legal orders they consider to be morally wrong.
25% : One U.S. military official downplayed such concerns, saying on condition of anonymity that creating chaos within the U.S. military's chain of command would create political backlash and be unnecessary for Trump to accomplish his goals.
24% : Trump is expected to have a far darker view of his military leaders in his second term, after facing Pentagon resistance over everything from his skepticism toward NATO to his readiness to deploy troops to quell protests on U.S. streets.
21% : Trump has previously banned transgender service members and posted a campaign ad on X portraying them as weak, with the vow that "WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY!"
20% : Angered, Trump has suggested that his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, could be executed for treason.

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