Recently, a disturbing trend in President Trump’s administration has been the firing or forced resignation of anyone who makes a negative statement contradictory to the administration’s public statements or policies.
Last month, U.S. Navy captain Brett Crozier sent a letter to his superiors that was leaked and published by the San Francisco Chronicle. In the letter, Capt. Cozier pleads for aid to his crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. One-hundred and fourteen of them had tested positive for COVID-19 at the time, and no one had been allowed to leave the ship while it docked in Guam. With a crew of over four thousand, it was almost impossible to quarantine or practice social distancing. On April 2, he was relieved of his command and is now the subject of a probe.
After reading this letter, Thomas Modly—acting Secretary of the Navy—stated “Capt. Crozier allowed the complexity of his challenge with the COVID-19 outbreak on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally when acting professionally was what was needed most.”
Modly believed Capt. Crozier had caused a panic by sending the letter to people outside of his superiors and unnecessarily worried sailors’ families when it leaked. Modly insisted that Capt. Crozier was not relieved because he pleaded for more to be done. While some believe Modly’s reasoning, Capt. Crozier is an example of how the administration does not have a good track record with handling criticism from others.
Throughout his first term, Trump got rid of those who angered him in the past. It was first James Comey, the FBI director looking into Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Different excuses were given as to why Comey was fired, so many believe it was due to his investigation into ties between Russian interference and the Trump campaign.
Next to be forced out was Dan Coats, former Director of National Intelligence. In July 2019, he spoke out against the President when Trump denied Russian interference in U.S. elections.
In Nov. of 2019, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was pushed out. He disagreed with the president’s decision to pardon a Navy Seal who was accused of war crimes. The explanation given for asking for Spencer’s resignation? The administration had “lost confidence” in him.
Trump then attacked Lt. Col. Vindman, a witness in the impeachment trials who publicly said Trump’s call with Ukraine was wrong. Vindman was attacked relentlessly by the president on Twitter, and he was taken out of the National Security Council in February of this year.
On April 3 of this year, Trump fired Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who received the complaint that set the impeachment proceedings in motion.
While the president is justified in wanting those who hold his fullest confidence in top positions, Trump is not basing these firings on officials’ inability to serve. He appoints his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to every imaginable position despite the fact he has no experience for any of them.
Trump hires and fires people based on their loyalty to him and him only. The people Trump has fired had more experience than most, and they were looked at favorably by those working with them. The people they were replaced by were chosen not for their experience, but instead for their loyalty to the president.
For example, to fill the Director of National Intelligence—a position usually held by someone with a career’s worth of experience—President Trump nominated Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe is one of Trump’s fiercest allies, and his experience is limited to a few months on Congress’ intelligence committee and his work as a national security lawyer in Texas.
With many positions, Trump only appoints “acting” officials. His choice does not have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Capt. Crozier was not fired directly by the president, as the others mentioned were. But he was fired to protect the ego of the president. The President has been playing up the work the federal government has done to fight this pandemic. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is an example of how the federal government has thoroughly failed.
They are the only ones with jurisdiction over the carrier. The ship has 150 cases and counting including Capt. Crozier, and there was no way for the crew to social distance from the sick and each other. They were forced to fend for themselves with the administration trying to hide the issue from the public eye due to “national security.”
It is likely that for the rest of his term, Trump will continue to surround himself with those who are only loyal to him. He will remain protected from those who say negative truths about him or his actions. It will get to the point where there will be no one left in the administration who can or will stand up against him; Trump will be able to do almost anything without repercussions.
