Hegseth fires general whose agency's intel assessment of damage from Iran strikes angered Trump
Source: Associated Press
POLITICS
Hegseth fires general whose agency’s intel assessment of damage from Iran strikes angered Trump
BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, MARY CLARE JALONICK AND MICHELLE L. PRICE
Updated 3:29 PM EDT, August 22, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from U.S. strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The firing comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media. It found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the U.S. strikes, contradicting assertions from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a news conference following the June strikes, Hegseth lambasted the press for what he claimed was an anti-military bias but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of Iranian nuclear production facilities.
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MICHELLE L. PRICE
Price covers the White House. She previously covered the 2024 presidential campaign and politics, government and other news in New York, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. She is based in Washington.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-dia-iran-intelligence-trump-kruse-5cb1fb89b8f12c3b517f139f6d840b48
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Days after the Air Force Chief of Staff announced an early retirement, local media reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the military’s top intelligence officer.
NICHOLAS SLAYTON
AUG 22, 2025 3:24 PM EDT
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin. Composite by Task & Purpose. Photo by Saul Lowe, AFP via Getty; Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired the military’s top intelligence officer, according to the Washington Post. Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is the second high-profile Air Force general this week to be relieved or abruptly announce their retirement.
The services top general, Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, announced Monday he was retiring after only two years in the position, a job which is nearly always held by the same officer for a four-year term. Several news sources reported that Allvin was being forced out by Hegseth, but would be allowed to announce his retirement. Unlike Kruse, the Air Force has said Allvin will remain as chief of staff until his replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
The Washington Post first reported Kruse’s firing on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Pentagon confirmed Kruse’s exit in a curt one-sentence statement: “Lt. Gen. Kruse will no longer serve as DIA Director,” a senior defense official said in a statement.
His firing comes two months after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized a DIA report that said the large American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, trumpeted by Hegseth and President Donald Trump as a historic success, damaged but did not destroy the installations.
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