Trump's drive to politicise military likened to Stalin by top US general

Donald Trump and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, are mounting an aggressive push to politicise the top ranks of the US military - a move that smacks of Stalinism and could take years to repair, the former infantry chief who trained troops to invade Iraq has said.

- Ed Pilkington

Retired Maj Gen Paul Eaton sounded the alarm in an interview with the Guardian, saying the effort to bend the higher echelons of the US military to the president's will could have dire consequences. He said the reputation and efficiency of the world’s most powerful fighting force was in the balance.

“There is an active effort to politicise the armed forces,” Eaton said. “Once you infect the body, the cure may be very difficult and painful for presidents downstream.”

Eaton, 75, has spent his entire life in military circles, including 37 years in active service. In recent years he has been a sharp critic of Trump’s manipulation of military structures. In the summer of 2024 he participated in war games conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice thinktank that sought to anticipate Trump’s potential authoritarian moves were he to return to the White House.

In Eaton’s analysis, Trump’s first step towards compromising military independence was the appointment of Hegseth as secretary of defence.

“Hegseth not only swears loyalty to Trump, he swears fealty to Trump - whereas the military swears an oath to the constitution,” Eaton said.