Europe
The Purge Hits Europe: General Chris Donahue Forced Out as Pentagon Plans Major Command Downgrade
The sweeping institutional transformation underway at the highest echelons of the Pentagon has claimed its most prominent, battlefield-proven victim yet. General Christopher Todd Donahue—the four-star commander of United States Army forces across the European and African theaters, and head of NATO’s Allied Land Command—will unexpectedly step down and relinquish his command on July 2, 2026. The announcement, officially confirmed by the Department of the Army, brings a sudden, jarring end to the 18-month tenure of one of the military’s most widely respected combat leaders. Donahue submitted his retirement papers following reports of direct friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, making him the latest high-profile casualry in an aggressive, unprecedented political campaign to thin the ranks of the military’s top brass under the mantra: “Less generals, more GIs.” At The Modern Memo, we analyze the operational career of the general who famously closed the chapter on the Afghanistan War, the mechanics of Hegseth’s ongoing Pentagon purge, and the structural downgrade facing America’s military footprint in Europe. The Forced Exit: Shaking the Transatlantic Sky The sudden removal of General Donahue represents a massive strategic shockwave, completely upending the leadership structure of the U.S. military’s most sensitive active theater. The Request to Step Down: According to defense officials and military sources, Donahue’s resignation was directly engineered by Defense Secretary Hegseth. While the four-star general had only met with the civilian defense chief once or twice since Hegseth took office, Donahue reportedly earned the ire of the new Pentagon leadership, leading to a swift demand for his retirement papers. The Interim Succession: The Army confirmed that Donahue’s current deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, will temporarily assume the duties of commanding general following the July 2 handover. The Climate of Fear: Within the Pentagon, the abrupt ousting of an officer widely considered a prime future candidate for Army Chief of Staff or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has sent chills through the uniformed ranks. Multiple former top military officers confirmed that the administration’s relentless campaign has created a palpable “climate of fear,” deeply disrupting institutional continuity. The Donahue Legacy: From Kabul’s Final Flight to Ukraine’s Shield To understand the gravity of Donahue’s forced retirement, one must look at the data defining his career as one of the most consequential combat commanders of his generation. The Final Soldier in Afghanistan: Donahue secured his place in American military history on August 30, 2021. As commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, he personally managed the chaotic, high-stakes security cordon at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the final phase of the U.S. withdrawal. An iconic, green-tinted night-vision photograph captured the exact moment Donahue boarded the final outbound C-17 cargo aircraft, marking the definitive end to America’s 20-year war. Sustaining the Ukrainian Line: Weeks after the Afghanistan withdrawal, as Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Donahue was deployed to Europe. He was among the first senior American officers on the ground, playing an absolutely pivotal role in advising Ukrainian armed forces and managing the massive Western logistics pipeline that enabled Kyiv to survive the opening year of the conflict. Bipartisan Respect: “There are few people more responsible for the defeat of ISIS than Chris Donahue,” stated Brett McGurk, former special presidential envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition. Retired General Tony Thomas, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, was equally blunt, labeling Donahue a “generational leader—one of the best ever.” The Hegseth Purge: More Than Two Dozen Dead Ends Donahue’s exit is not an isolated personnel dispute; it is the latest metric in a systematic, sweeping purge of senior military leadership designed to reshape the ideological and bureaucratic alignment of the armed forces. Ousted / Early Retired Military Leaders Under Hegseth Former Role / Command Structure Gen. Charles Q. Brown Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Randy George Army Chief of Staff Adm. Lisa Franchetti Chief of Naval Operations (First Female Navy Chief) Gen. Timothy Haugh Director of the NSA and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Christopher Donahue Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe and Africa The defense secretary has consistently defended the aggressive thinning of the upper ranks, arguing that the upper echelons of the military became bloated, risk-averse, and overly focused on progressive social policies under the previous administration. In addition to forcing out high-ranking officers, Hegseth has actively blocked dozens of standard, down-ballot promotions for senior colonels and naval captains without offering public justifications. The Structural Downgrade: Reining in European Allocations Beyond the personal fate of General Donahue, his forced retirement coincides with a profound, structural reorganization of how the United States intends to project power across the European continent. Demoting the Command: Anonymous Army officials confirmed to the press that the Pentagon is actively discussing a plan to downgrade U.S. Army Europe and Africa from a prestigious four-star command back down to a three-star command. The Allies Ultimatum: The potential command downgrade directly mirrors the administration’s blunt public posture toward international partners. Last week, Hegseth delivered a stern warning to NATO allies, announcing a comprehensive six-month Pentagon review of all American force structures in Europe. Forcing Europe to Lead: Hegseth made it explicitly clear that the evaluation is engineered to ensure that European member states stop relying on the American taxpayer and start leading. “It is a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors,” Hegseth warned, demanding that Europe step up to take primary physical responsibility for its own regional defense. Final Word The forced retirement of General Chris Donahue is the definitive proof that the administration values complete institutional alignment far above raw combat credentials or bipartisan acclaim. When you look past the sterile Pentagon press releases thanking the general for his service and focus entirely on the hard data—a legendary four-star combat commander pushed out after just 18 months, more than two dozen top-tier military leaders cleared from the board in a year, and a planned downgrade of America’s European sky shield—you gain an unvarnished view of a historic institutional restructuring. Quality information…
What’s America Gonna Look Like? Shocking Video from Rome Gives Preview
This article was originally written by Alec Johnson for WokeSpy. Back in the mid 20th century, London was a quintessentially British city, with a population to match. About 97 percent of the population was native-born British, and white. Today, more than 40 percent of the city’s residents are foreign-born. Under mayor Sadiq Kahn, the once-great financial metropolis is careening toward a Muslim caliphate. Angry, violent third-world Muslim men are free to roam the streets screaming for death to the infidels and the west, and few if any are ever arrested. Meanwhile, native-born Brits like Lucy Connolly are sent to prison for years for “racist” social media posts. It looks like something similar is happening in the United States. The resentful, the disorderly, and the violent are given a free pass to burn buildings, assault police, and take over American cities. The Black Lives Matter riots of 2020 proved that. All of a sudden, it was perfectly fine–mandatory, even–to go outside and disturb the peace “for racial justice,” but if you wanted to take a walk on the beach you were arrested for being a Covid super-spreader. (MORE NEWS: Newsom Attacks Republicans On Violent Crime — Data Tell Different Story) More recently, anti-Jewish “demonstrators” at liberal universities like Columbia in New York City were allowed to intimidate Jewish students and block their access to the campus. The authorities pretended they couldn’t see it. As long as you were a Muslim, or on the side of “the Palestinians,” anything you wanted to do was just fine. The rules of the game are clear, and simple. If you are native to a Western country, and white, you count for nothing. You’re an oppressor. Your legal and citizenship rights mean nothing. You get no protection. You get prosecuted for trying to protect yourself. But if you’re black, brown, foreign, and especially if you’re an aggressive third world Muslim, you can do anything. The streets are yours. The airwaves are yours. Feel like intimidating Jews? Go for it. Want to rape women and be confident you’ll get away with? Have a blast. (RELATED: ‘Secret Ties Between Soros and Your Local Prosecutor’: LaHood, Pags Reveals How One Foreign Billionaire Is Buying Control Of Your State) The recent riots in Los Angeles, largely made up of illegal alien Mexicans, legal resident but foreign sympathizers, and young white hard leftists, show us exactly what we can expect in American cities. Not only did criminal rioters openly target Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers for violence, but Democrat politicians and the media ran cover for them. Europe Falls Apart This grim travelogue video taken recently in Rome, Italy, looks like a preview of what New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles will probably look like in less than five years unless America wakes up. From his accent, the guy taking the video sounds Scottish. He’s apparently on holiday, and can’t believe what he’s seeing. In the middle of Rome, it looks like a street bazaar in Pakistan. As he walks down the street, third-worlders are lolling on dirty and crumbling stoops next to graffitied walls and trash-strewn sidewalks. A local Italian even confirms to the tourist that “we are not very welcome here.” He’s talking about white people. You know, the native population? Tourist shocked by what he sees in Rome. Fourth world. pic.twitter.com/4KcHVU1xDM — RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) June 27, 2025 TMM Analysis There once was a time that European diversity was one of the greatest things the continent — and the U.K. — had to offer; you could enjoy the overarching culture of an independent nation with the freedom to explore niche pockets of diversity, largely built by true immigrants who wished for a better life for their children (and for those children to assimilate to their new cultural homes). Now, this once-great Western civilization is collapsing under its inability to maintain a social structure that promotes its greatness and individuality, and is handing control over to immigrant populations who rebuke traditions that have been in place for thousands of years. Politicians have given up on any sense of true inclusivity, and instead handed the great cultures of Rome, London, Paris and more, to the highest bidder in the hopes of maintaining their own seat in power. It is not racist to want to protect your home nation and culture; and it is essential that all immigrants find a way to assimilate and adopt the culture of the nation they’ve moved to. Most European countries don’t create or make anything of worth to the rest of the world, so they depend on tourism to keep their bottom-line happy and their residents financially healthy. It is sad to see such a great series of countries fall prey to their own stupidity. Let us hope that we don’t end up doing this at home.