McConnell Slams Trump Administration’s Isolationist Pentagon Hires

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is urging the Trump administration to “stay away from Pentagon advisers who make their predecessors Obama and Biden look tough in comparison,” as Republicans increasingly additionally concerned about recent high-ranking hires at the Department of Defense. opposed to American involvement in the Middle East – and to the person who hired them.

In a rebuke of the views of at least one recent Pentagon hire and the nomination process that resulted in their appointments, McConnell, the former longtime Republican leader of the Senate, said Jewish insider he finds it “alarming” that such individuals survived the selection process, given their well-documented track records on Middle East politics.

“President Trump is committed to restoring peace through strength and stand with Israel. But the people who make up his Pentagon operation do not appear to have read the memo,” McConnell said in a statement to Jewish insider.

“It is alarming that people can obtain authorization after claiming that American interests in the Middle East are…”minimal to non-existent,’ suggesting that America should ‘to entrench militarily» of the region, or by asserting that providing Israel with even defensive assistance against Iranian-backed terrorists is an escalation. The administration would do well to avoid Pentagon advisers who make their predecessors Obama and Biden seem tough by comparison,” he continued.

McConnell, who now chairs the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for defense funding, cited previous writings by Michael DiMino, Trump’s pick for deputy secretary of defense for the Middle East. -East, and Dan Caldwell, who would be one of Pete’s main advisors. Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, who played a role in the Pentagon’s staffing transition process.

DiMino, who was sworn in Monday, said last February that the United States had “minimal, if any” interests in the Middle East and that the U.S. role in the region had brought no benefits to the region. national or geostrategic.

Caldwell argued in an article Foreign Affairs in November that the United States “should withdraw militarily from regions where U.S. interests are less pronounced, such as Europe and the Middle East, particularly where current U.S. responsibilities can be outsourced to relatively wealthy and capable allies.”

McConnell is the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history, stepping down from his leadership role at the end of the last Congress. He vowed at the time to openly defend his national security concerns, even if it meant distancing himself from his party leader.

Asked in an interview with JI last July what he wanted to see the next administration do to counter Iran, McConnell responded: “I’m going to disappoint you by saying I’m not going to tell you exactly what I would do. but what I know won’t work is what we did.

“Generally speaking, when you increase pressure on Iran, behavior changes. I would certainly be in the camp of making it extremely uncomfortable for them to continue what they are doing,” he said.