WASHINGTON D.C (WSAU) – As the U.S. continues to provide aid and coordinate military plans with forces in Ukraine and Israel, former President Trump is calling for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to be fired after failing to notify the White House of his hospitalization.
The New York Post reports that the former president said on Truth Social that Austin “should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty.”
“He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was or might be,” Trump continued.
Trump’s sharp remarks coincided with the revelation, according to CNN, that nobody, not even Austin’s deputy Kathleen Hicks, knew that the secretary of defense had been sent to the intensive care unit of Walter Reed Army Medical Center on New Year’s Day.
Austin additionally neglected to notify President Biden for three days that he was hospitalized and had delegated a portion of his responsibilities to Hicks, who was not in D.C. and instead on a planned trip to Puerto Rico.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked on Monday about Austin’s unexpected absence, saying, “The President… continues to have confidence in Secretary Austin, and as the admiral just stated, we want to see him back at the Pentagon.”
John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters during Monday’s briefing that there are “no plans” to remove Austin or change his military leadership role.
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