How is the pentagon preparing for Trump admin 2.0?

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – President-elect Donald Trump has been criticizing how the current administration has been handling the military since he left office. Now, the Pentagon is bracing for changes.

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CNN reported this week that "officials are holding informal discussions about how the Department of Defense would respond if Donald Trump issues orders to deploy active-duty troops domestically and fire large swaths of apolitical staffers," citing unnamed defense officials. POLITICO reported that one particular official might be on the chopping block due to their stance on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

"Trump in his last term had a fraught relationship with much of his senior military leadership, including now-retired Gen. Mark Milley who took steps to limit Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons while he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," said CNN.

After leaving office, Trump has called the military under President Joe Biden " weak " and last year he said "we have a woke military that can't fight or win as proven in Afghanistan," regarding the decision to pull troops out of the country. More recently, he has criticized how the U.S. handled the war in the Middle East and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

"We are all preparing and planning for the worst-case scenario, but the reality is that we don't know how this is going to play out yet," one defense official told CNN. According to the outlet, officials are also concerned about Trump issuing an unlawful order as president, especially if people he appoints do not push back.

During a recent interview on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast , Trump admitted that, coming into his first term in 2016 with no experience as an elected official, he relied on others to recommend appointments. A Department of Defense official quoted by CNN said that the relationship between the White House and the DoD was "really, really bad," back then and that they think Trump's team is being careful about who they select.

POLITICO said the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff body of senior military officials might be gone with the new administration when Trump's transition team starts moving in. It is led by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie.

"Defense officials are getting anxious about the possibility of the incoming Trump administration firing Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown, due to perceptions that he is out of step with the president-elect on the Pentagon's diversity and inclusion programs," said the outlet. Brown is a Black man who has talked publicly about challenges he's faced in the military. Although his four-year term ends next September, Trump could dismiss him sooner.

"Any such move would be extraordinary, though not unprecedented, said POLITICO. A DoD official told the outlet that since Brown is a "DEI/woke champion," some presume he'll be out quickly once Trump gets in.

According to CNN, defense officials are also worried about Trump reinstating Schedule F , an executive order he first issued in 2020. It reclassified many nonpolitical, career federal employees across the U.S. and made them easier to fire.

During a press conference this week , DoD Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said "I totally believe that our leaders will continue to do the right thing no matter what. I also believe that our Congress will continue to do the right things to support our military," when asked about the administration transition.

POLITICO said that House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers – an Alabama Republican known for being a defense hawk – is under consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's Defense secretary, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. Other potential picks include Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and Mike Pompeo, Trump's former Secretary of State and CIA director.

A GOP party platform published this July by the American Presidency Project said the party's priorities over the next four years include "rebuilding our Military and Alliances, countering China, defeating terrorism, building an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, promoting American Values, securing our Homeland and Borders, and reviving our Defense Industrial Base."

CNN also noted that Trump said last month he thinks the military should be used to handle what he called "the enemy from within" and "radical left lunatics." A former staffer also said he believes troops will be deployed to help with Trump's plan to lock down the southern border and deployed into cities to help with his mass deportation plan.